B00724AICC EBOK (30 page)

Michael blurred out of the apartment as the air got the best of his hair.

Lauren and Michael had their first official date at 15 Beacon Street at the Mooo restaurant in Boston. He thought the XV above the front entrance was a nice touch. Michael had the prime New York sirloin 12 ounce steak and Lauren had the filet mignon, both rare. Both enjoyed each other’s company as they were aware of the looks they were receiving, with Lauren’s two samurai swords protruding from the sheaths on her back as she entered the restaurant. She had placed them on the floor before ordering. She was wearing a black skort with a red cashmere blouse.

“
This being our first date, I must savour it. We must remember this moment, the atmosphere, that old man over there noisily slurping soup. We’ll look back on it fondly in years to come. It’ll be difficult with the five kids tugging at you for attention.”

Lauren smiled. “Only five kids? Maybe if you could shoot them out of your body? We’ll see if you survive the date.”

They thoroughly enjoyed their food and the ambiance. Lauren was a little surprised how much she was enjoying the conversation, and had decided not to read Michael’s intimate thoughts. He had the capability of blocking her but had not yet learned how to do it properly, and so it was easy for her to enter through the back door.

Michael smiled his biggest smile at her, and it made him appear more attractive to her. He continued to feel a little awkward in her presence but it was getting better. “So Lauren, how would you rate our first date?”

Lauren belched silently. “Excuse me. Well, Michael, I probably shouldn’t say.”

“
That bad huh?”

“
Actually, I don’t want you to get a swelled head but I’m enjoying it a hell of a lot more than I thought I would.”

Michael’s brown eyes lit up. “Really? And all I had to do was to save your life. Interesting. Must I save your life again to get another date? Is that how it works?”

Lauren shook her head. “It’s not that at all. It’s just that there’s more to you than I previously thought.”

“
Because I saved your life? Oh come on, admit it.”

Lauren took a drink of red wine that she had previously placed several drops of blood into, and then wiped her mouth with the napkin. “No, I’m just getting to know you better. I like you more than I thought I would. I realize that I’m being a little more frank that one would be on a first date, but there you go.”

“
You like me more because I saved your life?”

“
You don’t really want me to beat you in front of all these people, do you?”

Michael nodded and thought on it and smiled. “You’d really tear me a new one after I saved your life?”

They both had to laugh. Lauren thought of offering to pay the bill but she knew he would be offended and so she decided not to make the offer. Outside the restaurant they stared at one another until it had become awkward, especially for Michael.

Lauren raised her eyebrows. “I know you want to kiss me.”

“
Is that a fact? A little over confident? Hey, are you reading my mind again?”

“
I am. I did. I know how to get around the way I thought you how to block.”

Michael shook his head ever so slightly. “Ah, that is not fair. Oh, what else did you see?”

She adjusted the badge on her trench coat. “Well, I didn’t see you picturing me naked.”

He smirked and again shook his head. “That’s comforting.”

Lauren giggled. “I can’t help it. It’s so easy.”

“
Un huh. It’s not proper and you know it.”

“
Are you going to kiss me or not?”

“
Now I don’t know if I want to anymore.”

“
Yes you do.”

Michael picked Lauren up to his face level and she let him, and they kissed. It was passionate and a little too long for a public kiss. Several people stared as they walked by, with a fifty-year-old woman finally having to say something to bring them out of it. “That is not appropriate behavior. Take it inside people.”

Lauren’s smile was beguiling. “I have to get back to work but we’ll continue this later. I mean if it’s okay with you?”

Michael pretended to think on it. “Well, ah, maybe, I ah, I suppose. I guess I could consider it. You do taste pretty good.”

“
Okay then. Latter.” Lauren blurred out of the area and out of sight in less than a second.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

JENNY AND ALLISON SAT ON A BENCH in the park across from their house and waited. The girl was equipped with her seven throwing knives as she ate a bag of Zesty Doritos. They stared at the large bat that she had spelled, both thinking that it had perhaps the ability to change the world; it was situated in the tree garden overlooking the steel bench. Night had just fallen and there was anticipation in the air. The child had sensed something unpleasant in the area, and so she thought that if she sat out as bait it would draw whoever it was and she would be able to observe whether the enchantment actually worked or not. She hoped the size of the object would increase the range of the spell.

If there were hidden red sheriffs that were in the area to protect her she could not sense them, which probably meant that for the time being Jenny was on her own. But she had told her mother that sheriffs were in the area to be able to sit out after dark. It was a pretty place, with shrubs and trees and intersecting paths, though it did appear a little foreboding at night, although with so many vampires on the rampage most places did.

“
Here he comes.”

Allison looked around but could see no one. She felt nervous in the pit of her stomach and continued to feel weird about her daughter always protecting her. And for this adventure they wore no protective amulet. “Doesn’t take long for a nasty vampire to show up.”

Jenny turned her head to the left but then pretended not to notice when Uriah appeared from around the bushes. He was a bald fellow with blue jeans and a short brown bomber jacket. He also had a short sword on his side. He feigned disinterest as he passed the bat and kept on going.

“
Damn, it doesn’t work. That is strange; it doesn’t even work up close?”

“
Watch your language young lady. How do you know it doesn’t work?”

“
Mother, he walked right by it. He’s going to come right back around in a few minutes to eat us.”

“
What! Let’s get the hell out of here then.” Allison knew that certain vampires should be destroyed, but she preferred that it was done by a sheriff and not her child.

“
Watch YOUR Language mother. If I let him go he’s going to try to eat someone else, and probably succeed. He is one sick you know what.”

“
Jenny, you do realize that one of these days you’re going to meet your match. Never mind the fact that those cameras are going to tape you.”

“
They know anyway.”

Uriah had circled around and appeared from the exact same location as before, so confident that he didn’t pull his blade. He did however let his fangs out to frighten them. “I wonder which one of you tastes better?”

Jenny put one of her throwing knifes into his shoulder and it burned something awful when he removed it and threw it to the ground. He screamed with excruciating pain as Jenny knew he would. The sawdust that she had thrust her blades into was doing its job. Uriah pulled his blade and attacked the girl but found two more of the throwing knifes in his chest, stopping him. He removed the knives and they clinked as they hit the ground. The wounds healed but they continued to be excruciatingly painful.

“
You little bitch!”

He attacked and swung his blade three times, each one an attempt to remove her head. But she was much too fast for him. His sword hit the tree and stuck momentarily, and then Jenny knocked it out of his hand. She was more than a match for him and she knew it. She stuck one in his heart and as he was in the process of removing it, she removed his head with his own sword. Uriah’s bones dropped to the ground.

“
See, mother, the big bat doesn’t work at all.”

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

DRACULA SAT IN THE MIDDLE of his row of three movie theatre style chairs in his finished basement on Martin Street. He was in a pair of black silk pajamas with his ankles crossed. The seat was in the recline position and he stared at the large Sony big screen that was attached to the wall. CNN was on but the sound was muted as his mind wandered deep into his past. The walls were the brightest white and on the floor a tufted reddish carpet. In the corner under the small window was an idle pool table set for a game. He cracked his neck audibly, from one side and then the other.

The day was nice enough but Dracula found it tedious nonetheless.

In his reverie he was feeding on the blood of the animal from the family of the Elephantidae. He wasn’t sure why his thoughts continued to go back to that distant day, but he enjoyed spending time there nonetheless. The scent memory of the animal was stuck in his mind. He was unsure if there was something significant about that place or not, but he continued to travel to it regularly. Had the Master actually been created inside that cave on top of the cliff? And if so, who or what had conceived him?

Dracula’s days and nights were long. At least Piers was somewhat of a distraction but he hadn’t seen him in over a week. He closed his eyes and about a minute later he dozed off; snoring lightly and fell deeper into his ancient mind, with twists and turns of fragmented dreams. Deep in the New Brunswick forest on a cold winter afternoon. The sky was the prettiest blue that he had ever observed, unusually so. It was as if it had been painted by an artist with the greatest talent, and actually thought that he could observe some of the brush strokes. A seagull flew sideways high over the forest. The wind was colder than he had ever experienced. The weather never bothered him before, but that wind was so utterly frigid. He smelled the pine trees that surrounded him as he realized that he was on a meandering forest path.

“
I don’t believe that I’ve ever felt so cold.”

The wind made the branches on the trees ebb and flow. His breath turned to ice and then fell on the trail, shattering. His breath did so a second time, with a piece shattering on his right foot. When the ice particles broke they played part of an unfamiliar tune, with each piece of ice playing its own distinct note. A black bear sat observing his every move, as if watching some sort of entertainment. It cocked its black face with the curiosity of Albert Einstein attempting to figure out the workings of the universe. They stared at one another both wondering what the other was doing there. The animal nodded and waved at him and he nodded in return.

In the distance Dracula observed a lumberjack dressed in jeans and a checkered red and black shirt. He carried a huge oversized axe that the sun caught, making it appear quite lustrous, almost magical. The fellow was looking left and right, apparently checking out the size and quality of the trees. He stopped, looking at himself in the reflection of his own axe, and appeared satisfied at what he saw.

“
How are you today?” said the lumberjack. He had a large handled mustache that he stroked. “I own this forest.”

“
The entire forest?” Dracula wasn’t sure if he spoke in jest.

“
Every single tree and every shrub.” He twirled the double-edged blade.

“
Would you be so kind as to cut my head off?” the Master asked. He could tell that the axe was very sharp just by looking at it.

The lumberjack looked Dracula up and down. He had fire in his eyes, literally. He nodded and immediately swung the huge axe and his head came off like a daisy being popped by a thumb. The head bounced and rolled awkwardly on the ground and ended up at the base of a tree. The perspective that Dracula’s head was now observing was quite strange.

“
Thank you!” Dracula’s severed head called from the ground. “A little to the right,” the head said to its body, though it didn’t know how it would hear its commands without ears. Finally, the body did manage to locate the head, placing it under its right arm, and then continued down the path. The severed head commenced to whistle a happy tune.

The author’s footsteps clunked down the basement steps waking the Master, with the sound bouncing off the walls, even though he had the ability to walk silently. He rolled his eyes at yet another visitation from Piers Anthony, although he was happy to see him, but he’d almost rather live than tell him. He stood for several seconds before seating himself beside Dracula. They remained silent for a time.

Dracula finally broke the silence. “What the hell is it now?”

“
Perhaps I’ve just come for a visit.”

Moon Diamond ran down the basement steps silently and lay on the carpet and listened; Zacharia was curious to the goings-on. The feline commenced to wash its face as Dracula showed it a slight smile. The cat stretched as only a cat can and it felt heavenly. It looked up at Piers and then at Dracula, and they both appeared to be giants from his point of view. The Siamese attempted to talk, but only meow meow meow was ejected from the feline.