I said goodbye to Noah and wished I had stayed with him when I'm greeted by flashing lights and camera crews at tonight’s venue. After fighting my way through the crowd, who are booing and screaming out obscenities at me, I have a microphone literally shoved in my mouth and questions thrown at me.
“Juan, do you care that you have let your fans down?”
“Is it true that Hans finally quit The Duel so he can join Viper?”
You fucking what? What the hell is going on?
I just glared at the female reporter slack jawed while shaking my head at her in disbelief. Screams go up again and I hear a voice up front saying, “We are sorting it out, but I need my drummer to do that, so let me through.”
Cruz’s arm appears around my shoulders and he dazzles the reporter with his smile and then he gets the microphone treatment. “Cruz can you tell us what is going on?” Cruz gives her his sexiest smile and strokes her hand that holds the microphone to his mouth.
Someone shouts out Cruz’s name and a pretty brunette steps forward. “Cruz do you remember me? We meet about five months ago.”
Cruz smiles and says, “How can I forget a beautiful little thing like you?”
The woman stares at him smugly and pulls something out of her bag, “Good, then let me introduce you to your baby.” and she thrusts a piece of paper in his hands.
Cruz’s face turns as white as his hair, it also contorts with shock and he peers down at what is in his hands. The reporter turns her questions to the woman and I know I have to get Cruz out of here. This is about to blow up in his face.
I don’t know if the fans are in shock as well, but as soon as I step towards them, and push a few to move, they part like the red sea and let us through.
I heard women’s voices shout out, “Cruz I want your baby!”
“Me too Cruz! You can impregnate me anytime!”
When we finally reach the door, Saul is standing there waiting. He lets us in and locks the doors behind us. “What the hell is going on out there?”
I gape at Saul, lost for words and just shrug my shoulders, but Cruz quietly says, “I’m going to be a dad.”
Saul does a double take and mouths to me, "What the fuck." Then turns to Cruz and says, “Come here and show me that.”
Cruz gingerly walks over and hands Saul the piece of paper.
Saul inspects every inch of it and chuckles, “You fucking idiot, don’t you remember Jacob telling us that this could happen? That if it did you needed to check the name and hospital printed on the photo because you can buy them online and women will do this to get money out of you.”
Cruz actually appears upset and sullen, “The bitch lied about it being my baby? For what? Money?”
Saul puts a hand on his shoulder, “Cruz, I doubt there is even a baby. Leave it with me and I will sort it out.”
Cruz actually shocks me with his next words, “I would be a great dad.”
I really don’t know what to say to that so I change the subject, “Why was I asked if Hans is joining the band again? And what the hell happened to playing tonight?”
Saul starts to pace the floor, “It appears our plan has been rumbled. The manager,” he said, pointing over to a large man who is standing behind the bar, “said he received a phone call from a woman saying Viper had been involved in a car crash and wouldn’t be able to make it tonight. And I have no idea where the Hans thing came from, but from what I heard outside it appears he has officially quit his band.”
My mind starts to swirl and images flash in my mind of people who could be behind this. I didn’t intend to say it out loud, but I did, “It has to be someone close to Noah. This has Jacob written all over it in my opinion, but who is he working with?”
Cruz lets out a huff, “And you wonder why I don’t want to be Entwined, and to a human no less. It’s brought nothing but trouble to our door since you met Peppa and Entwined with her and Noah.”
My anger roars and I storm over to Cruz to rearrange his face while saying, “Think about it you twat. Lara is Noah’s sister and like it or not, you are involved in all this. You will make Lara yours eventually and Donald Blaise will be on your ass like a dog in heat. You will be number one on the wanted list when he finds out you are involved with his precious daughter. So, shut the fuck up, because when your time comes, you are going to need us.”
Cruz snarls at me flashing a bit of fang and I’m rewarded with a double middle finger. Saul steps in between us and gets us both to agree to go back to Jade’s to talk more about upcoming gigs. We ended up going out the back way, but the van is surrounded. It is a circus out there. Cruz is asked, “How do you feel about being a dad?”
The fans are angry. I didn’t blame them really, but it isn’t our fault and there is no need for them to throw empty soda cans or fag butts at us. We kept our calm and our mouths shut and managed to get out of there, dreading what tomorrow’s headlines will bring. We all sit down that night and decided the only way forward is to be honest with the venues and the world. So, while Saul phoned up the papers to tell them our story, Jade phoned the venues for this week to clear a few facts up and we all kept our fingers crossed that Viper will be playing again.
That night, lying next to Noah, he sent a text off to Peppa, and even though I don’t believe in God, I sent a little wish up above that she will be in our arms again soon. When Noah and I awake, he takes a little blood from me to keep him going. I tell him that we will stroll around town after the gig tonight. When we walked out for me to leave, Saul is standing behind Jade, dry humping her, while she is bent over giggling at what she is reading. I cough, but I know Saul is ignoring me as he carries on and I say, “Having fun brother?”
Jade straightens up and slaps Saul’s hands away and he gives me the middle finger, “I would be if I had her naked and tied to my bed.”
Jade slaps him on the chest, giving him a stern look, “Now, now, what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom.” A smile starts to spread across her face, “And if you’re a good boy, I might stick my vibrator up your ass again.” She shrieks with laughter at Saul’s shocked face and darts to the side of him to escape, “Oh you little…”
I turn away from them and glance down at the table to let them get on with their snogging session. Noah walks up behind me and does a little dry humping of his own and then picks up a newspaper. “You are kidding me, CRUZ’S OWN BABY VIPER. Look at his face, you would think he has just been told someone is dying.”
Noah lifts the paper to show me the photo of a very shocked looking Cruz. I didn’t need to see it as I was there but I looked anyway. I picked up one of the papers myself as the headline caught my attention and I read it out loud, VIPER FANS VENOM AT CANCELLED SHOWS. After reading the article it seems a few fans have decided to boycott us and have declared us a bunch of wankers. They go on to say we didn’t care about the small people. One fan, if you can call her that, claims: “We the fans made them big, they should remember that because without us they are nothing.” She does have a point but she doesn’t know she is dealing with vampires who can make the fans adore them again if we wanted to.
Saul grabs my attention when he snaps the paper out of my hand, “We need to get going, if we still have any fans to play to.” His smile contradicts his words, “I'm being sarcastic Juan, and Viper will be ok. When the news comes out about the band being sabotaged, they will feel sorry for us. It’s a win-win situation.”
Noah speaks next, “I bloody hope so as Devil Records will suffer as well. So you better move your asses and show your fans that you do care and rock their worlds.”
I hate the thought of Noah losing anything because of me, or the band, and I will do anything to not let that happen. I stalk over to him and grab him by the front of his shirt, “You will not lose anything, not on my watch.” I slant my lips over his and nibble his bottom lip until he opens for me and I let my tongue do all the talking. After Saul and I say our goodbyes to our lovers, we are shocked when we reach the place we are playing at. There is press everywhere, but there is also security guards who help us get inside without any hassle. It seems Cruz has been doing his own thing for the band and phoned Donald Blaise, threatening him with Viper quitting if he didn’t send some manpower in to help us.
He does love us sometimes.
The night turned into one of the best shows of our tour. The number of fans that turned out is down, but it felt more intimate. Cruz sang his heart out without messing up and we made it all about the music as it should be. When we left the building questions are shouted out at us and it appears the word has spread about someone trying to destroy the band.
As Cruz is the front man, he turned around to the press and fans before he stepped any further into the van and said, “Read the newspapers people, before it becomes tomorrow's fish and chip paper.” He climbs in and shuts the door and takes in our
what the fuck
faces and shrugs, “What, I’ve always liked that saying.”
Saul let Cruz know he did a good thing by asking Donald for help and Cruz tells us we have them for the rest of this week so hopefully that is the end of the troubles. Cruz drops us off at Jade’s. I asked him if he is coming inside, but he gave some excuse about there being too many holes to fill and his dick is the perfect thing to fill them.
As soon as my feet hit the floor my body inflames and the connection lights up like a firework going off in the sky. Peppa is here and everything inside me cries out to rush in there and show her how much I love her. To take them both in my arms and tell them I will never lie to either of them again. I’m hit by a wave of lust and love and my dick hardens instantly. I start walking towards the front door, but then somewhere in the back of my mind a voice tells me she didn’t come here for me, she came to see Noah. I didn’t have the right to go in there and disturb them. I picked up words that Noah projected and I have to leave. I can’t stand there and know he is about to touch her, to make love to her, when it is what I crave too. I didn’t want her to leave because she didn’t want to see me; they deserved this time together no matter how much it hurt.
Saul asks if I am coming inside. He saw my hesitation, because I haven't moved from the same spot. I tell him my reasons and he understands. I run to Dolly and fed from her. I find myself sitting with her for the next couple of hours, spilling my guts about what is happening in my life. I wish she could give me advice on what to do, but she just oinks at me and lets me lean against her to take some of the weight of the world I'm carrying.
I head back to Jade’s thinking Peppa would have left by now, but I'm wrong, she is still there. I can tell she is sleeping. I decide to take a chance to get a glimpse of her, which is better than not seeing her at all. I silently creep into the house and when I enter Noah’s room they are cuddled up on the bed together.
Noah shifts his body and slowly moves it away from Peppa’s to come and stand butt naked in front of me. The smell of sex and blood is calling to me and I reach for Noah to pull him closer into me, so I can capture her scent. I have to stop myself from getting on my knees and licking their combined cum off his dick, so instead I snog him and taste Peppa’s blood while doing that.
I break the kiss and say, “You Entwined with her?”
He nods his head, “Yes, I asked her and she agreed.”
I‘m glad he asked and didn’t take it like I had. I have no right to feel the flash of jealously that reared inside so I squashed it before Noah felt it. “We talked Juan and when I told you I'm going to fight for us, I meant it. I’m giving her my letters to read and she will see and feel everything we have these past weeks. She has to come back to us then, she has to.”
I swallow whatever words I am going to say as the tears run down Noah’s face. He brushes them away and I notice his features turn angry, “I want you to take me to see my father first thing when we awake. I can’t let his treatment of Peppa carry on. I’m not backing down on this Juan, so don’t bother with your shit about me not being fucking ready. Because I am, and my father and I will be having words.”
Peppa lets out a moan in her sleep and we both turn to look at her. I stride over to the bed and let my eyes roam over her beautiful face. With a shaky hand, I brush away the hair that has fallen into her face and I lean in and place a barely there kiss on her lips and whisper, “I love you.”
Noah comes up behind me and puts his arms around my waist, placing a kiss to my neck, and whispering into it, “She loves you too, and so do I.”
I turn in his arms and kiss his forehead. “I should go. Be ready as soon as the sun sets.” I place a swift kiss on his mouth, step away from him and leave, feeling lonely once again.
Chapter 17 (NOAH)
My name is Noah Donald Blaise and I’m in love with a man and a woman, who have just taken it upon themselves to walk away from me. To leave me to deal with this alone, but I’m not a quitter. If they think this is over, they don’t know me at all. I can still sense Peppa in my arms, even though she isn’t in them. My lips still tingle from the feel of hers pressed to mine. Her words ring in my ears and my worst fears have come true as she tells Juan she doesn’t think she can forgive him. Juan once told me that I'm not the third wheel, but right now slumped against the wall with my head in my hands, that’s exactly how I feel. I’m piggy in the middle who shouldn’t even be here, but I am and I’m willing to fight for what’s mine.
A hand comes to my shoulder and my body is nudged from the contact of someone sitting down next to me. I lift my head to see Jade sitting there with a face full of sympathy. She smiles at me when our eyes meet, “I’ve never met anyone like you Noah. For a newly turned vampire, your strength and courage is phenomenal. You amaze me with your determination and the way you face everything head on. Don’t let what happened here tonight phase you. Love knows no bounds and is stronger than life itself. Together is where you all belong and forever you will be.”
My eyes close and I fight back the tears, “Maybe you should tell that to the other two. I know what I want. I just need to figure out how to make it happen. How do you get it through to two thick headed, stubborn people that what we have is worth all the pain and heartache?”