The Tome of Bill Compendium Vol. 1 (Books 1-4) (15 page)

“About that 'got away' part...”

“I may have exaggerated a few of the details to the rest,” she flashed me a sly grin. “Night Razor had me
tracking
you down all week.”

“You have my driver's license. What did you need to track?” I asked, amazed at how differently my return to the vampire fold was playing out than I had expected.

“As I just said, I fudged the truth on a few things. You're still my problem, as far as Jeff's been concerned, so I've been tasked with the job. Thus, who's to say you haven't disappeared into the bowels of the city for the last several days?”

Ozymandias stepped in. “And now you've had a whole week to adjust and get used to your powers. The vampire who returns to them tonight will certainly not be the same one who escaped them out of desperation last week,” he said that last part with a wink.

“I think I get it,” I replied, not getting it in the slightest.

“Good. After this weekend, your reputation will only spread.”

“How?”

“You'll see,” he flashed me a predatory grin. “For starters, though, you're going to have an eventful night tomorrow.”

“I am?”

“Indeed,” he confirmed. “I have arranged for a little hunting expedition for you, having reminded Night Razor that, as your master, it's his job to make sure you're able to survive. Now that you've been
found
again, he can do just that.”

“He's done a pretty shitty job so far.”

“Which I have also mentioned. Thus, you and he will be going hunting together tomorrow night.”

Uh oh. Jeff kicked my ass fairly easily last time. I wasn't really enjoying the idea of a little alone time for a repeat performance.

“Just the two of us?” I asked.

“Building castles in the sky...” Sally sang.

“Yes,” said Ozymandias, ignoring her asshole remark. “You've been rogue all week. That’s problematic for him. Any carnage you caused could come back to haunt him. At the very least, you’ll need to learn to find and hunt prey in a way that's subtle...or as subtle as we get. As your sire, it’s his duty to show you this. If you're alone together, then anything that happens will be open to speculation amongst the rest of the coven.”

“If we're alone, he can also drag me into an alley for an all night ass kicking,” I protested.

“Doubtful, since he knows I'm in town. However, it’s possibly a necessary evil that you'll have to endure.”

“At least he can't compel you to just stand there and take it,” Sally added, the look on her face telling me she wouldn’t lose any sleep regardless of what happened.

She did have a point, though. In such case, all I’d have to do was somehow spin running away from him like a pussy into a positive story for the rest of the coven, and I'd be all set.

Goddamn, this was going to be a long weekend.

Sally and I left James sitting there, drinking espresso - damn that was going to be one wired vamp - and walked back to the village. As we got to within a few blocks of the loft in which I’d been turned, she informed me that we were about to enter their (
our
) territory, and that there would, no doubt, be eyeballs watching us.

“Stop slouching. Walk straight with your head up and facing ahead. You need to look like you own the place,” she said.

“I don't slouch.”

“You look like you're studying the sidewalk. You might as well have a sign that reads ‘
Professional Victim’
hanging around your neck. Walk like I do.”

“Like my ass is available to the lowest bidder?”

“I'm surprised you haven't made me an offer yet. You look like somebody who needs to pay for it.”

“Thanks. Maybe I should just pledge my undying loyalty to Jeff.” I adopted a mock-sniveling tone. “Oh, and,
by the way, master, Sally's trying to fuck you over behind your back.
”

“Touché. But it still doesn't change the fact that you need to exude a little bit of this thing we call ‘confidence’.”

She was an arrogant bitch, but she was an arrogant bitch with a good point. I stood straighter and tried to put a bit of a swagger in my step.

“Tone it down a little, Superfly,” she said out of the corner of her mouth.

“What? You said to walk with confidence.”

“Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to shuffle like some seventies pimp.”

I tried what she suggested until she finally agreed that it was acceptable.

“Oh, there's one other little detail,” she said, stopping. “Just to give things an air of authenticity.”

I was about to ask her what, when she suddenly flung herself into a pile of trash on the sidewalk. Before I could even speak a word, she was back on her feet and launching herself face-first into the side of the nearest building.

“What the fuck?”

When she was finished with her insane self-inflicted assault, she stood before me - covered in grime, small cuts, and with several bruises on her face.

“Ta da!” she said with a smile. “Now it looks like I successfully tracked down the ferocious Freewill.”

Holy shit, this chick was psycho. What the hell had she and Ozymandias dragged me into?

* * *

We went straight to the loft from there, and Sally let us in. I was trying my best to look stone cold pissed off, but I felt it was only a matter of time before I shit my pants. If I was going to do this, though, I'd have to dive in feet first. Otherwise, I might find myself remembering that this was a nest of hardcore killers and start looking for another window to throw myself out of.

There were about a dozen vampires scattered around the room, far less than the week before. No party scheduled for that night, I guess. There were three vamps, a male and two females, seated on the couch. I recognized the guy as one of the goons who had dragged me back up to the loft, following my impromptu skydiving lesson the week before. On the floor in front of them was a dead, presumably exsanguinated, body. The trio on the couch was all covered in blood, so I assumed we had entered just as they were finishing up a meal. This was the perfect opportunity...the best way to show dominance to a predator was over a fresh kill. I just hoped it wasn't also the perfect opportunity for me to blow it and get my ass put through a wall.

I shoved past Sally (
who fell back much more dramatically than the push had warranted
) and approached the couch. All three vamps glanced toward me and I could’ve sworn I noticed a little air of uncertainty about them. However, when the male spoke up, his voice had nothing but douchebag bravado behind it.

“What the hell are you staring at, cockface?”

Okay, it was now or never. Guess it was time to see if that semester I put in with NJIT's drama society paid off. “My
name
is Dr. Death,” I replied calmly.

“My apologies,
Dr. Death
,” he spat, eliciting a few giggles from the lady vamps.

“I don't believe we've been introduced,” I continued, my tone even, almost friendly sounding.

“Name's Dusk Reaper.” Jeez, every moniker here was stupider sounding than the last.

“Nice to meet you. Now listen up,
Dick
Reaper. You're sitting in my fucking seat,” I willed my voice to be calm and made sure not to break eye contact - hey, it works for dogs, figured I might as well try it here.

“What the fuck did you call me, asshole?” his voice rose, drawing attention from the other vampires in the room.

In my mind, I envisioned my Elven battlemage. He wouldn't take shit from anyone. He once stared down an entire tavern full of angry bugbears; no way would he back down from this asshole. I let years of role playing experience take over and envisioned that this was just another random encounter. It was time to throw down my twenty-sider.

“You heard what I called you,” I sneered. “More importantly, you heard what I
told
you. You're in my seat.
Get. The. Fuck. Up. Now
.” My emotionless tone would have made a Zen master proud.

“Or what?” he replied. His voice still held its original menace, but I could see a glimmer of doubt in his eye (
I hoped
). He wasn't expecting this.

Ignoring his question, I casually swept my gaze toward the body on the rug. “Is this your handiwork?”

“Damn straight. Drained him like a stuck pig.”

“Nasty what happens when a human gets drained by a vampire,” I said conversationally. This was it, sink or swim.
Please work!
“Ever see what happens when
someone like me
drains a vampire?”

That stopped his attitude dead in its tracks. I could see it in his eyes. Goddamn it, Sally and James were actually right.

“No,” he stammered.

“Well, you're going to,” I put an edge into my voice, “if you don't fucking move...NOW!”

There was a tense pause as we locked eyes...and then, amazingly, he blinked first. Looking like a petulant child who had been sent to bed early, he got up without a word and stalked off. I, in turn, sat down, leaned back, and put my feet up on the corpse (
gross!
) like I owned the place. The two ladies got up to follow him. As they did, I said in my best arrogant tone, “When you decide you've had enough of Dick Raper there, come on back and I'll show you how to make a Dr. Death sandwich.”

One gave me a look of outright disgust as she stormed off, but the other gave me a much less hostile glance that said that maybe, just maybe, there'd be a chance in hell of that happening. Damn, I'd been acting like an alpha dog for less than five minutes, and already I was seeing more results than I ever did before. Note to self: remember this shit.

Of course, Sally had to go and ruin it by sitting down next to me. She carried herself meekly, but it was just an act. “Smooth,” she whispered low enough so that the others wouldn't overhear. “You'd sleep alone at a sex addicts’ convention.” Bitch.

Sally aside, though, the exchange between Dusk Reaper and me appeared to be having its desired effect. There were a lot of whispered conversations going on in the room, and a quick scan showed that few vamps in the crowd were willing to make direct eye contact with me. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, almost as if on cue, I heard a familiar voice angrily yell out, “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I turned my head to see Night Razor come stomping out of one of the bedrooms, looking as much the douchebag as ever. In tow followed the cute redhead I had seen the previous week, looking quite disheveled, I might add. Whatever I might think of Jeff, it was obvious he was getting tail from whomever in the coven he felt like getting it from. I
really
needed to put in an application for his job.

Oddly enough, though, his wrath wasn't directed toward me...at least not yet. His focus for the time being seemed to be on chewing Dusk Reaper a new asshole. You can probably guess the reason.

“You're eighty-four goddamn years old, and you're going to puss out to
this
?” Night Razor gestured toward me as he screamed in the other vampire's face. I felt Sally's boot strike me quickly on the side of my shin (
Ouch!
) while he continued bitching Dusk Reaper out. She didn't need to remind me. Whatever happened in the next few minutes would either make or break me, literally.

“Sorry...Razor, man. It's just that...he's...y'know,” Dusk Reaper stuttered.

“Don't start with that freewill bullshit,” Razor barked. “I thought you were smarter than that. (
Really? I personally wouldn't have given Doofus Reaper credit for being smart enough to tie his own shoes.
) Now stop being a fucking pansy and
GO SHOW HIM WHO'S BOSS!
”

No doubt about it, I could feel the force of the compulsion from where I sat. Dusk Reaper's eyes momentarily glazed over, and then a look of pure hatred spread across his face. He started slowly advancing upon me, Night Razor looking on approvingly. It was time to test whether Ozymandias knew what he was talking about. Trying (
and almost failing
) my damnedest to remain calm, I locked eyes with my would-be attacker.

With each step he took, I pulled back my lips a little baring more of my fangs. I also visibly tensed my body, as if preparing to launch myself at him (
a bluff, but then again, that bugbear encounter had been one, too. I was only fourth level at the time, after all
). All the while, I never let my eyes waver from his. At the third step, his body started to quiver, and his movements became a little jerky. At the fourth step, I noticed the look on his face starting to waver as well.

By the time his foot came down a fifth time (
I was quickly running out of room
), he stopped and broke his gaze from mine. He shook his head a little, as if clearing his thoughts, and then turned to Night Razor.

“It's all good, man. I was just heading out, anyway. Really,” that last part coming out perhaps a bit whinier than he had meant it to. Night Razor and I both glared at him. Mine was still a bluff, but I was pretty sure Razor was getting ready to eviscerate the other vamp. To his credit, Dusk Reaper sensed this and beat a hasty retreat to the door, although he tried to save some face by turning to me as he opened it. “Next time, motherfucker,” he weakly growled, but there was no real conviction to his voice. Finally, he shut the door behind him and I took my first breath in what felt like an hour.

Night Razor slowly turned toward me, his hands curling into fists. I was definitely not out of the woods, yet. An ass-stomping by him now would probably knock down the giant wall of self-serving bullshit I had just built - that, and it would also hurt...probably a lot. Healing factor or not, I found myself not loving pain any more now than I did whilst still alive. Fortunately, I had a six hundred year old life preserver to cling to.