Penny's Choice (2 page)

“Penny, Penny, snap out of it,” Charles said. He was leaning over her and rubbing her arm.

Penny sat straight up in her seat. She was a little disoriented in the strange surroundings. She grabbed onto Charles' arm as she recomposed herself. She had drifted off to sleep after about 10 minutes of riding in the car. She hadn't slept much or well since the incident with the vampires. The nightmares that woke her up screaming almost every night, along with the insistence that her family had been attacked by vampires, was what prompted her grandmother to send her to a string of highly qualified psychologist. None of them were able to help her.

Penny felt more secure around Charles already. Unconsciously she thought that he could protect her in her dreams. But he could not.

“Sorry, I just have these dreams,” Penny said as she finally relaxed by putting her head back on the seat and releasing her death grip on Charles. “Do they go away?” She asked.

“Not completely,” he replied.  “The best thing to help them
subside,
is to kill the damned creatures.”

Penny looked outside at the scenery. Mostly barren landscape met her gaze. There was a sign for Salt Lake City in 75 miles.

“So, are you going to tell me where we are going yet?” Penny asked, thinking about how far west they had already come.

“California.”

“And, anything more specific,” she asked. His mysterious answers intrigued her. He was a challenge, and Penny always loved challenges.

“Southern California,” he said, still evading her question.

“Are you trying to avoid answering my question?” Penny prodded him a little deeper.

“Yes,” he said looking vacantly at the window.

“Oh, come on Charles, what am I going to do? Do the vampires not
know where the brotherhood is?”

“Oh, they know...” he said still staring blankly.

“Then why won't you tell?” She crossed her arms and thumped back into the seat. Penny didn't like it when people
thought she was untrustworthy.

“The public doesn't know,” he said looking at her, as if he were trying to decide if she was trustworthy.

“I'm not the public anymore either,” she said. She uncrossed her arms and planted an accusing finger on Charles's nose. “My family
was killed by those monsters!”

“So was mine.
And I wasn't told till I got there.” Charles lifted her finger off his nose and held her hand in his. Penny wasn't sure if she wanted to kiss him or slap him. She j
ust turned her head and huffed.

Charles sighed and let go of her hand. “The Winchester Mystery House,” he said quietly.

“Where?”
Penny had never heard of that place before, but of course, she had never been west of the Miss
issippi before she met Charles.

“The Winchester Mystery House is a very unique building, and popular tourist attraction, that was built by an eccentric widow and heiress.”

“Why are we going to a tourist trap?” Penny asked. She didn't like the idea of staying at a place
inundated with noisy tourists.

“Because that is just a ruse and a way that we support the Brotherhood.
It was built to keep vampires out, well, and tourists too. The building has 579 rooms, but the public only know about 160 of them. Every odd feature of the house – there are many – is designed with one thing in mind: keep the vampires out.”

“Oh, so she had vampire problems too?” Penny asked. Perhaps this place might be mor
e interesting than she thought.

“Took her family from her,” he said. “Her husband died several years after the initial attack that claimed her newborn child. She spent the rest of her life building a fortress against vampires.”

“Oh,” Penny said. She puckered her lips in deep thought. “I'm sorry about yelling at you. It's j
ust been a long couple months.”

“It's alright,” he said. He squeezed her hand lightly before he let it go. “You're entitled to be a pain in the butt occasionally.” A half smile flickered across his face.

Penny slugged him in the arm.

“Okay, okay, save the violence for the vampires.” He resumed his position with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He was done talking for now.

Penny was about to resume her sleeping position when the car lurched to the side. Charles immediately jerked up and pressed
a button on the center console.

“Bradley, what seems to be the problem?” Charles asked while he was grabbing a gun out of the back of the seat and handing it to Penny.

“Um, Bradley...th
is is Thomas,” The man replied.

“Thomas? Thomas, what the hell are you doing?”

“Saving you from hungry werewolves,” he replied and the car swerved down another road. Penny saw the skyline of Salt Lake City on the horizon. She thought they must be going over a hundred miles an hour. She looked back behind the car and saw a large wolf
chasing them.

“How long have you been driving?” Charles asked as he loaded a gun for himself.

“Since you left San Jose,” the man said.
“Overheard some werewolf talk.
Lost the re
st of them a couple miles ago.”

“Thomas, you can't be here...driving,” Charles said. Penny thought he was complaining about a rather odd thing. Let the man do his job and drive, she thought as the car lurched again as the wolf butted its head against the vehicle.

“Wow, that thing is fast!” Penny said when she realized that the wolf was
keeping up with the car's pace.

“And strong,” the voice said over the intercom.

“Just shut up and drive, now t
hat you're here,” Charles said.

“I am guessing these things have silver bullets? Or is that just a werewolf myth?” Penny asked.

“Silver bullets!”
Charles said
as he unbuckled his seat belt.
             

Penny followed his example by unbuckling and readying her gun.
             

“Oh, no you don't!” he said as he pushed her back into the seat. “That is for back up protection only. I don't want you to get hurt already.” He went to open the window, but Thomas spoke befor
e he could accomplish his task.

“I'd prefer that neither of you get hurt, so both of you just sit back
and
hand me the gun,” Thomas said.

“But you're driving!” Penny protested. Shooting a werewolf and driving an escape vehicle didn't seem humanly possible.

“I am more than capable of driving and shooting at the same time,” Thomas said. Somehow Penny was not reassured.

“No way, I am not giving you a gun!” Charles said.

What, do you want me to use my teeth?” Thomas said. Penny could hear a giggle in the front seat.

“Shut up!
Just shut up, Thomas.”
Charles rolled down the window as the car lurched again with another blow from the giant beast. Charles flew back into Penny, but quickly recovered and leaped to the window, gun in hand. Penny was not about to let Charles go out on this mission alone, so she disobeyed her order by rolling down the window to follow.

Penny heard a shot, but it was followed by another jolt of the car, so she assumed that Charles had been unsuccessful. Penny hit her head on the window seal when another jolt hit the car, but she continued to pull half of h
er body out through the window.

“Penny, get back in the car,” she heard Thomas say through the wind muffled intercom.

She looked up to the side mirror to give him an ugly look, but she didn't see anything in it. So she stuck her head back in the car and yelled into the intercom. “Shut up! Charles needs back up,” she said. “Can you just hold this ca
r steady?”

“You try holding it steady against a werewolf pack leader,” Thomas said. “Fine, don't mess up your hair though. It would be a shame for you to look all disheveled for Charles.” She could hear him laughing in the front seat.

“Are you even capable of being serious?” Penny asked as another shot rang out, then a jerk that symbolized another failed attempt on Charles's part. Penny pulled herself out the window again and surveyed the scene. The mangy dog was distracted by Charles. He took a couple of lunges toward Charles's gun arm, but a couple of smooth and skilled
manoeuvres
from Thomas sent the beast into the car door instead. Penny's abdomen lur
ched into the side of the door.

Wow, Penny thought, Thomas is a good driver! While the beast was distracted by the handsome vampire hunter and the mysterious driver's evasion techniques, Penny took aim. She had one shot before the wolf would notice her. One shot to take him down. Penny steadied her hand and just as the beast lunged toward Charles, she shot it in the head.

The beast slumped to the ground and the car sped off toward the city. Penny pulled herself back into the car. She smiled at Charles as he re
-
ent
ered the car. “You're welcome!”

“What part of stay out of this didn't you understand?” Charles asked, giving Penny a scowl.

“Charles, I told her to. You needed some back up,” Thomas said as he rolled down the partition. Penny still couldn't make out much of the mysterious joking driver who had saved their lives. His collar was popped up and he wore a very large hat, a turtle neck, and huge aviator sunglasses. He kept his head down.

“She could have gotten hurt,” Charles said. He poked Tho
mas's shoulder with his finger.

“I wasn't going to let her get hurt,” Thomas replied. “And I wasn't going to let you get hurt either.”

“Hey, I'm not a lady in distress here,” Penny spoke up. She didn't like them having a conversation planning her actions without her right there. She could handle herself, as she had
just proved with the werewolf.

“Of course not,” Thomas said. “Charles can just be a little intense and over protective sometimes.”

“Alright, good job, Penny,” Charles said. He said and ruffled his perfect hair and sighed. “Just try to follow orders next time and I will be s
ure to include you more, okay?”

“Sounds good.”
Penny smiled as she spoke to Charles. She was going to like this charming guy, and she had no one to steal him from her anymore. Penny fought back a tear at that thought; she would give anything to have her sister back, even if she did like to steal the cute boys from her.

“Thomas, pull over so I can drive,” Charles said as he leaned forward in his seat.
“You need to get out of here.”

“Now?”
Thomas asked. Penny wasn't sure what he meant by that question. When was a better time?

“Fine, you are so vain. We'll pull over at night fall,” Charles said. He nervously drummed
the seat back.

“Oh look who's talking! Your hair is messed, by the way,” Thomas said as the partition went up again.

“Excuse, I don't understand what is going on. Who are you anyway?” Penny aske
d through the half raised wall.

“He's just an old friend,” Charles told her.

“So, he's not part of the Brotherhood?” Penny asked with a raised eyebrow. “What was all this about not telling me any
thing because of the public...”

“Look, Penny, please, please, don't mention Thomas to anyone in the Brotherhood. Forget that Thomas had anything to do with this. Can I trust you? Can you trust me? Please.” Charles took Penny's hand in his.

“I was just harassing you,” Penny said. “I don't think Thomas will do us any harm. And if I had friends from my past that were willing to help me, I would do the same thing.” She hoped she had alleviated Charles's fear. She wanted him to like her. Plus, she hoped she would see Thomas again someday. He provided great backup and much needed comi
c relief in the heat of battle.

“Thanks,” he said. Charles pulled out a mirror and fixed his hair.

Penny laughed as he put every lock back into place.

“Ok, maybe I am a little vain,” Charles said. He put the mirror away and resumed his I'm done talking position. Penny however, was no longer in any mood to rest. She had just fought and killed a giant werewolf. Her adrenaline was pumping and she could not understand how Charles would just sit back and relax. He took one of his hands off his stomach and intertwined his fingers into hers.

The two rode silently hand in hand for another couple hours until sundown when Thomas pulled the car over on a small side street. The front car door opened and Thomas stepped out into the shadows. Penny tried to get a better look at him, but he still kept his head down and never faced toward her. He quickl
y disappeared down an alleyway.

Penny and Charles emerged from the car and Charles made his way around to the driver’s side. She stood awkwardly by her door while Charles stepped closer to her and closed the door for her.

“Thanks,” she said as she ran her fingers through her hair. “He's kind of...weird.” She looked off in the directi
on that Thomas had disappeared.