The Scene (24 page)

CHAPTER 24

I was coming off the last step when I heard the metal door clang shut.

             
“Dylan, what is wrong? Why are you so upset?” Cyrus had spun me around by my shoulders; we were now nose to nose. Or nose to chin, whatever.

             
“Why? My best friend just blew me off for a piece of ass. And a vampy-ginger piece at that.” I tried to wriggle out of his grip; no go.

             
“Malcolm is my…he’s a good man. I have been with him for so many years, I should know. Tatum, she is not new to our community here, Dylan. I wish she would have told you. I did not expect to come across this episode tonight.”

             
“She’s been here before? With Malcolm?”
You think you know someone.

             
“Yes. Of course, I am not privy to all the details, but yes, she has been with him in the past. Why is this a problem for you?” His breath was cool and minty. I’m sure mine was more like hot ass.

             
“You don’t understand. She never told me any of this. Not only that, she allowed me to be scared and uncomfortable on more than one occasion because she kept me in the dark. She knowingly put me in a position in which I was obligated to let her cut me and suck blood from me and she didn’t even warn me. Now, I know she’s been here before. She knew about the bloodroot?” Epiphany number one.

             
“That I do not know.” His eyes were a vast sea of green: blank. If he was lying, I couldn’t tell.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

              “I can’t deal with this. I need to go home.”

             
“To see your Mike.” He made it a statement.

             
“No. To sleep. I haven’t heard from Mike. He asked me to stay with him for my safety. After they found my look-a-like behind my place, he’s been a little edgy. And, he’s not
my
Mike.” I spoke with the intensity.

             
“So, you will be sleeping alone then?” I refused to meet those eyes again. I kept my face down but I could still hear his smile.

             
“Yes. Alone. Home. Now. Please.” He released my shoulders at that.

             
As he and I made our way through the back alley and around to the front, he reached out to hold my hand. I used this closeness as a safe opportunity to ask some burning questions.

             
“Why did you drag me away from Dominika?”             

             
“She threatened you.” 

             
Oh, that’s all?
“When? You suddenly speak Hungarian?”

             
“Enough, yes. Enough to know you are not safe here any longer.”

             
“Who are Reggie’s boys?”

             
“Why are you so damned interested in Regina? In this…situation? Why can you not leave it all alone?” He released my hand at that.

             
“I need to know. Even you were concerned with my wellbeing after seeing the news. How do you think I feel?”

             
“It’s not your job, Dylan. There are police for that. Your Mike, in fact, could keep you safe.”

             
Snide little fuck.
“Who are these boys?” I had stopped walking with him. I stood under a golden street light waiting for his response.

             
“Some friends of Regina’s, from her home town, from what I gather. Regina has been with them every night, here, after her shift. I do not know why these babies are so important to you. These lads are the epitome of immaturity. Strange, yes. Explicitly obsessed with the scene, yes. Unadulterated killers, no.” Cyrus had joined me under the light and was standing an obviously intentional four feet away from me.

             
“Whatever Reggie is hiding is important enough for her to flip out on me then run from the building. Also, you mention Mike one more time and I’ll draw blood.” I was trying to remain serious and calm in light of the situation.

             
“Yours or mine?” He took a step closer.

             
“Don’t you fucking start with that shit. I’ll tell you right now, if you turn up to be a nasty bloodsucking murderer, I swear on all that is holy, you will wake up on fire.”

             
“Me a blood sucker?” He was smiling until he saw my face. “I may be stuck in the middle of all this vampire mess, but I assure you I have nothing to do with murder.”

             
“Uh-huh. I’ll never trust you, you realize this right? It’s not you. It’s the company you keep.”

             
“Why do you not trust us? What have we done to you?” He was genuinely insulted. Good.

             
“Uh, you drugged me unknowingly. You left me alone with Malcolm to go on a date with some blonde bitch.”

“And how would you know I had a date? Specifically blonde?”

Busted.
“Does it matter? You left Macabre with that date very late in the evening, only to later call me to check on my ‘wellbeing’. That’s not even including the fact that there are dead girls popping up from Fresno to here with significant ties to vampirism. You have direct links with the vampire community here, as well as your little trip to Fresno to fetch Regina which was very well timed in accordance with naked dead girls in Fresno. The better question is why should I trust you?”

             
“I see your point. Perhaps you should not make assumptions until all of the facts have presented themselves.” He turned from me then and walked away from the golden light into the darkness ahead.

             
“No offence intended. I was only being honest.” At that, I left the light as well. I didn’t speed up to catch up with him. Not at first anyway.

             
I could feel the weight of the darkness falling quickly at my heels. It loomed at my back like the boogeyman. Up ahead I could see the corner where we should turn to meet the front of the building. Cyrus was walking at a swift pace fifteen feet or so ahead of me. He made the turn around the corner and I was left alone in the darkness. My own footfalls increased at the thought of being alone on that dark, lonely street. I was in a near run by the time I reached the corner. Flying around the corner, faster than my fat ass could slam on the breaks, I crashed directly into Cyrus’ broad expansion of muscled chest.

             
“Oh shit!” I literally shook my head, shaking off the blow.

             
“Scared?” His face was as blank as I’d ever seen it.

             
“No. Just not particularly fond of being alone on a darkened street. Especially this darkened street, behind this scary club, depending on only you to keep me safe. Well, you and my .38, but I’d hate to waste my ammunition on shadows.” I was still standing just below his chin.

             
“Bullets won’t kill a vampire anyway, right? All of these vampires lurking in the dark around here, bullets won’t hurt them. Perhaps you should begin wielding a wooden stake or possibly a silver cross and holy water? Garlic: that is the trick, garlic. If it doesn’t kill them, your stench will ward them off.” I couldn’t tell for the life of me if he was being sarcastic or not. By his tone alone, I had the urge to run out and purchase a wooden beam and start whittling.

             
“Okay, smartass. Make fun all you want. You’re the one running like a bitch away from Dominika. If you weren’t scared, then what was wrong? Vampire or not, she’s a scary cunt. And that Malcolm, he’s a strange duck himself. He makes himself out to be this stoic Celt, composed and old-worldly. What an act. He had to have worked really hard at that manly décor he has going for himself at his place in the hills. Then he goes and bangs someone like Tatum. Doesn’t match up. As a matter of fact, what’s someone like Malcolm doing heading the fastest growing vampire enterprise on the West Coast? He doesn’t really fit the bill. Maybe not vampires but some seriously disturbed individuals are lurking in them there shadows and I’d rather not bump into them single-handedly”

             
“And what does fit the bill of a vampire entrepreneur? Malcolm acts as nothing he is not. He may seem odd to you, a mundane, but to others he is Primus.”

             
“What is that? ‘He’s Primus’. Sandora said there was a Primus here and I had no clue what she was talking about. What the fuck is a Primus?” I stood hands on my hips staring up at his chin. I refused to look him in the eye ever again.

             
“Just a term used to describe his standing here in Los Angeles. He is above many others is all.” He turned away from me for the second time in all of fifteen minutes. He was skirting the issue.

Asshole.

              I didn’t bother catching up to him. He remained in my field of view until we reached the red carpet where we waited for his car. He stood away from me again, pouting probably; I didn’t look at him while we waited. Malcolm was a Primus, whatever that was. Cyrus was hiding something, so was Reggie. And Dominika was out for blood. Probably mine. Tatum was screwing the Primus of L.A.; I wonder if she knew it. I was digging up more dirt than I had intended. The more dirt you dig, the bigger hole you get and I was about ass deep.

             
“You’ve been uncharacteristically quiet.” Cyrus spoke from his seat behind the wheel breaking my train of thought.

             
“You know of my character?” I stared out the passenger window hoping he would shut up and get me home.

             
“More than you know of mine. I guarantee it,” he said ominously.

             
“And what is it that you think you know? That I don’t shut up?”

             
“That and more. I know you are very upset you were betrayed by your friend. I know you are not going to stop harassing people until you get yourself killed.”

             
“A blind, deaf, six-year old could have seen that.” I let my irritation roll off my tongue.

“I know you are refusing to meet my eyes.”

“No. I’m just not looking in your direction very often.” Deflection at its finest.

“I know you think I am a vampire.”

I was stone silent for more than a few heartbeats. Do I agree, and be right, and die? Do I argue, and be right and die later? Do I agree and pray that I’m wrong?

“Are you?” I took my chances.

“No. That is one thing I am not.” His voice held resolution. I wondered if he was waiting for me to ask him that very question.

“No. I don’t think anyone is a vampire per se. I mean the thought of it is bizarre and would land me in the loony bin if I said it out loud. Do I think there are people who think they are vampires? Yes. Are they killing girls? Yes, I think they are.”

“And you think I am one of those people.” He made it a statement.

“No. I hope not.”

“Hope? Hope won’t get you very far in life and death. Why is the thought bizarre? Anyone can be anything. Never question the bizarre, Dylan; you may ultimately look foolish.”

“Oh really? And what do you suggest? There are actually vampires? They have come to wreak havoc on our town and are draining young girls and leaving them in obvious places
. Why? They want to be discovered? They want to come out of the closet? That shit only happens on HBO. This is reality. And in reality, blood drinking to that extent is not possible. You should know, you hang out with the fanged ones. A few tablespoons and that’s it, right? So not only do we have vampires running amuck on the streets of Los Angeles, but we have vampires violently vomiting blood into buckets? Not happening. Vampirism is physically impossible. No one bursts into flames in the sun or is burned by crosses and holy water. And let’s face it, a stake through the heart would fuck anything up. No. There are no vampires.” I was fairly certain.

“Who says any of that is true? That is all of cinema. Perhaps vampires do not catch fire or sparkle in the sunlight, but only blister slightly. And they are not opposed to any religious items at all. They do not need much blood, or perhaps their stomachs are evolved and can withstand more of the substance. No one really knows what beings lie in wait in the glooms. Man simply believes because they have come this far in evolution that they are the only bi-pedal race to survive the ages. Just because man obtained the use of light
, does not mean the darkness is not waiting for them in the shadows.”

“Bum-bum-buuum. Jesus, Cyrus, when did you become the vampire aficionado? Okay, so vampires are real. Now what? And more importantly
, who’s killing these girls? Why only girls? Why hookers? Until recently anyway, and in that case why the switch? If we’re theorizing here, I want your input.” I waited patiently for his response.

“It may not be vampires at all. Perhaps it is someone who is framing them. Or let us say it is a vampire, he is not well, and he is a bad man.”