The Blood Bargain (14 page)

With nothing to say, I crossed my arms, and waited impatiently.

Thirty minutes and a mountain of sliced wood later, we were moving.

The city meat locker went by the name of
Sal.s
. It was close to the wall on the main road into town. The metal thirty by thirty building looked more like a giant shed than anything else. Weeds overrun the walkway to the front door, it showed no sign of recent traffic. The overhead sign was dusty, the greenery along the pavement uncrushed.

This was a quiet part of Junction to begin with. Most of these
‘
businesses
’
were deemed useless and turned into winter storage. It was patrolled regularly before the wall went up, since then the only time this area saw a lot of activity was around the fall harvest.

“You take the back.” He murmured to me as we approached. With a nod I turned to the side going along the parking lot lines. The back door was right next to the trash bin. Cobwebs angled from the top corners of the entry.

I tried the knob.

It didn
’
t turn.

Above the overgrown bushes next to the door there was a window that had been covered by cardboard. Hardly professional for a meat locker.

I jogged back around front. Cole was looking around the grounds like he had lost a contact
lense
.

“It
’
s locked.”

“So is the back.” I thought for a moment. “Can you break it?”

“Metal door. Makes that a bit difficult.” He pointed up and left. Unlike the back, the front windows were not obstructed.

“Window?”

“Give me a boost.” They were not at first floor level, more like floor and a half.

I didn.t realize how strong he was till he picked me up. He handled my frame like I was a stuffed animal, easily lifting me up to the sill.

I yanked on the edge of the frame. No dice. Well...there was only one th
ing left to do.
With all my might, I punched the glass pane.

It didn’
t break and now my hand throbbed like I had never felt. I cried out as Cole set me down. Despite my pain he was laughing.

“What’
s so funny?” I wailed trying to straighten my hand. My fingers did not bend easily, I could tell the joints were already starting to swell.

“You are dork. Also I don
’
t think it's a good idea we go around breaking stuff. That would defeat the purpose of discrete.”

“I
’
m waiting for a better idea?”

“Ben
’
s girlfriend Sammie works for
Tommen
. If he is involved with this place, maybe we can get our hands on the door key.”

“Fine, but if it doesn.t work I
’
m breaking that damn window.”

“Deal. Now let
’
s go grab a drink.”

“I have time for a quick one, then I have somewhere to be.”

The happy smile faded from Coles face. “Date with a bloodsucker huh?”

“It is NOT a date.”

“It
’
s complete bull your father was okay with that.”

“Yeah well, he
’
s a jerk.” I felt horrible for the words as soon as they left my mouth. Did I really just insult the person who
’
d kept me safe and alive for the last decade?

“I don’
t know what I
’
d do if my
Mom
pulled that crap on me.”

“Least your
Mom
wouldn.t force you to wear a skirt.”

“You got all girly?” I
rolled my eyes, wishing I hadn’
t
let him in on that little detail of my embarrassment.

“Forget I said anything.”

He laugh
ed deep. “Oh man, what I wouldn’
t give for a cell phone to get that posted all over the web.”

“Sorry bro, all we have are paper and crayons.” We walked on for a bit in silence. Then he spoke up.

“What is it you miss the most? From before the outbreak?”

“A lot of little things and then a lot of big things. Some days I would kill for air conditioning. I miss movie theaters, fashion trends, new songs on the radio...most of all though I yearn for a handful of McDonalds Fries and a hot bubble bath.” I shook my head at how shallow I

sounded. “How about you?”

“Easy: Video Games and Steak.”

“Neanderthal.” I picked up a small rock from the sidewalk and chucked it at him. In protest he went on a long rant a
bout the wonders of first person shooters
and how I was missing out. Funny that we were talking about life in the
‘b
efore time
’
. For most, the first rule of living post

outbreak was you didn.t talk about life pre-outbreak. Too many skeletons in everyone
’s closet.

Perhaps because we had just recently shared a refresher in the brush-with-death category our tongues had loosened on the subject. Our recent encounter had definitely made me feel like

something that happened so long ago seem like it was just yesterday.

Approaching The Garage I caught sight of Adam he was stretched out against the brick exterior of the building having a chat with two younger doe eyed looking girls. Unlike most of the guy
s around here who were on ‘duty’
Adam never dressed for combat. Sneakers, faded jeans

and a
n
old beetles shirt topped off his outfit.

“Hey Casanova!” I hollered at him when we were within earshot. It had the desired effect, the girls giggled and exchanged a bashful smile. Then in the blink of an eye they had said their parting words and scattered.

“That was cruel
Liv
. What did I ever do to you?” Adam shot me a fake pained expression, his brown eyes wide and pleading for sympathy.

“Sorry I couldn.t resist. Plus isn.t it past their bedtime?”

“Ha
ha
ha
.” Adam’
s gaze wandered to my tall companion. “Sup Cole.”

“Hey man.” The p
air of them clasped hands in a ‘
bro shake
’
complete with a back pat. When they break it off he gives us both the eye with a smirk.

“So you two are done kicking sand in the sandbox?”

I rolled my eyes. “We rekindled our friendship over sex in the city, chardonnay and cheesecake.”

“Next I get to paint her nails.”

That
’
s enough of that. “So we standing outside all night? I really want a drink.” Not waiting for them to answer I pushed past them to the door. The Garage was busier than most nights, lot of the older folk seemed in need of refreshment. Thick stomp of boots behind me told me the guys had not dawdled in the fall evening.

Adam and I headed to a booth in the corner while Cole made his way to the bar. We got settled across from each other while we waited, making small talk about which
of the two outside was on Adam’
s list.

Cole comes over with three cups and a frown.

“Bartender giving you crap again?” Adam chided him.

“Just wanted to make sure I wasn.t drinking all of these myself tonight.” Remembering the last time I had saw him here, t
hat made sense. However, I wasn’
t going to flame that fire. Back to the topic of hand, I tried to think of the most covert way to tell Adam what had happened. 

I took a sip and leaned into him. “So that thing you wanted don
e? Wasn’
t a ghost chase.”

“Oh really?” His face was expressionless.

Now I got reall
y quiet. “I found papers in Dad’
s room that had a bunch of medical stuff going to
Tommen
. With an address of the old meat locker.”

“We checked it out, locked tight. Think Sammie could get the key off
Tommen
?” Cole chimed in from the other side. Personally I
didn.t know Sammie very well. I’
d had her for a nurse when I had my yearly checkup in the spring. A towering strawberry blond with a lot of freckles.

She seemed friendly and pretty laid back. Definitely not the kind of person that went around thieving from their boss. I had to remind myself that looks had been known to be deceiving.

“Never hurts to ask.” Adam readily agreed, then as Cole covered up our little whisper moment with some loud story about a bat getting into their house I watched Adams face drop from flat to frowning.

“Something on your mind?” I asked him quietly.

“Group of four at t
he fence today, by post three.”

I hissed and chugged my firewater. The frequency of the sightings was getting progressively more intense.

Damn it. Was this my fault? Did they follow us back.
Further, why weren’
t the vamps clearing a perimeter anymore? They should have taken anything out within a five mile radius nights ago.

Dimitri had said there was a statement of reasonable safety, but because of that mandate from Caius had they ceased their patrols? I was determined to ask him tonight.

T
onight!
S
hit.

“Hey guys I
gotta
go.” I scooted out of the booth while my goodbyes were met with heavy protest.

I pretty much ran to the vamp
’
s farmhouse. I knew I was going to be late. A fact that was confirmed as I saw no one waiting on the sidewalk. Just a bunch of barren steps and a shut door. I didn.t want to go up and knock, I definitely was not going to walk right in. I prayed Blondie wasn.t lurking around.

So there I stood in the cool fall breeze.

Waiting.

And waiting.

I smoothed my hair, tucking a tuff of the brown stuff behind my ear. With nothing else to do I went on to pick my hands, pushing cuticles back from my nails. I had just started to work on my left pinkie when the door opened.

Finally.

I walked up the stairs quickly, it was getting pretty cold outside and I was just in my
pacman
tee shirt and jeans. Like a moron I forgot a jacket. I probably would have remembered had I stopped at home at some point after dinner.

My Dad probably thought I was on the longest flower tour in history, but he knew I had vamp service duty as well. While I made a mental note to blame my time loss on that fact my feet carried me into the foyer.

Dimitri was standing against the banister of the steps that led to the second floor with his arms crossed.
He was wearing some charcoal grey cargo pants and a navy polo with military detailing at the shoulders. No shoes, no socks. I took a tentative step towards him, he did not look

very approachable with his arms crossed like that.

When he did not speak, I did. “Hi.” I smiled at him.

“I was starting to think you weren.t coming.” His dark features showing no warmth to encourage me forward.

“I’m sorry.” I was . “It’
s been a crazy day.” He visibly relaxed at my apology, unfolding his arms.

“Kitchen?” I prompted.

“Living room.” He countered. I sat on the ivory couch at the far end. He did not join me, rather moved in the opposite direction. I watched his hips roll as he walked, moving like the predator he was. Was I in trouble? My heart pounded in my chest at what could possibly be in store for me.

He paused by the cabinet at the end of the room and opened a drawer. After a brief ruffling sound he produced a long white box with a familiar word on it.

I watched in wonder as walked to the coffee table, smile on his face and a classic Parker Brothers game in his hands.

“Monopoly?” He asked. I nodded slowly. So did he not need to feed tonight? Could it be possible that a vampire just wanted to hang out? I took a critical look at his skin as he set up the board, he was only slightly paled. Nowhere near the coloring I had seen when he was at my

wrist. What the hell I suppose, Monopoly with a vampire. I wondered if that brought a new meaning to do not pass go?

He set up the board carefully on the table, taking the dog for himself. I picked the thimble. After dealing out the starter cash, we rolled to see who went first. I won with a five. I picked up the dice again to make my first move. Shaking them in my hand I tried to remember the last time I played this.

“You don
’
t like monopoly.” Dimitri seemed hurt in his question. I must have been
f
rowning.

“No, the game is fine. I used to play this with my parents on board game night.” The dice flew onto the table. I rolled a three.