Sunset Strip: A Tale From The Tome Of Bill (18 page)

“Where...”

“In the dressing room. I can smell her.”

“Do you need my help?”

“No, I’ll be fast. Just do whatever you’re going to do quietly.”

* * *

I sniffed the air again outside the dressing room door. Yeah, the girl was in there, along with a few others, all human. It was interesting, Marlene’s obsession with keeping all the girls in her employ human. Odd the traditions some coven master’s set forth. Guess she didn’t want the competition. Still, it wasn’t the stupidest rule I’d ever heard of.

I checked the door. Unlocked, as expected. I likewise didn’t worry about running into any of Marlene’s goons in there. Men were strictly forbidden backstage except during emergencies.

Like when you killed Tina and Minnie?

Ah, memory lane, gotta fucking love it. But now was not the time for that shit. They were long dead and buried, forgotten by all...save, perhaps, me.

I shook my head. Fuck me! When this was over, I really needed to kick back with a pitcher of Bacardi 151 daiquiris until those memories went back to the graveyard where they belonged.

Enough dilly dallying! I turned the handle, intent on ushering Kara out of there quickly. With any luck, the girls would think I was just part of a different shift and not bat one false eyelash at me.

I opened the door.

Several pairs of pretty young eyes turned in my direction, and then all hell broke loose as the nearest one, a stacked brunette, let out a shrill shriek.

Oh yeah. Guess I should’ve remembered I was covered head to toe in Marlene’s blood. Christ, it can never be easy, can it?

I popped the screamer in the mouth, pulling my punch at the last second. None of these girls deserved to die. Hell, none of them deserved to be disfigured just because I was dumb enough not to shower off before stepping in. They were all me once upon a time.

Goddamnit, I was doing it again. If this kept up, I would be reduced to tears, bawling my eyes out at my lost youth. Fuck that shit!

I put on my game face, blackened my eyes and extended my fangs. If these girls thought I looked like some horror show reject, I might as well put it to use and clear myself a path.

Pandemonium was in full force. The girls ran to the other exit, which was fortunate for me. Anyone racing in to help would have to wade through a sea of panicked thongs and teddies.

Only Kara remained at the mirrors. She stood there in matching bra and panties while calming applying lipstick. Whatever compulsion they’d planted in her head, it was holding fast. Either she had the willpower of a slow-witted puppy or she hadn’t been overly terrified enough to try fighting it to begin with.

Mark!

Marlene was powerful enough to put her under this deep, but if Kara had convinced her stupid self that she was in love with Mark, then he could’ve done so without raising one iota of a subconscious protest in her mind.

That was also fortuitous for me. I couldn’t undo a compulsion by Marlene, but I was older than Mark...even if only by a few hours.

I grabbed her shoulder and spun her to face me.

“
WAKE UP!!
”

Just to be on the safe side, I planted a healthy smack on her face. Not hard enough to hurt, but more than enough to get her attention.

Her hand flew to her cheek and the glaze in her eyes cleared almost instantly. They opened wide as she took in my appearance, looking like I’d stepped from the final scene of
Carrie
.

“Who are you?”

“Hi, I’m Sally and you’re coming the fuck with me.” I grabbed her wrist and, without further ado, dragged her with me to the back door.

She let out a shriek in protest - what a whiner - but was unable to do anything save follow me. “Please don’t hurt me!”

“Duly noted,” I replied, pulling the door shut behind us and snapping the knob off.

“Listen, if its money you want, I can...”

“We can compare credit reports on the second date.” I gave her a shove forward into the storage room.

Christy ran out to greet us. “I thought you said to be quiet.”

“Those who can’t do teach.”

The startled girl turned toward her. Recognition dawned on her face, but not the relief I’d been expecting. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s okay, Kara. I’m here to take you back home to your parents. It’s going to be all right.”

The girl’s tone immediately changed to defensive. “It was already all right. I’m not going back home, and I sure as shit didn’t need your help, bitch.”

I raised a questioning eye to Christy.

“What? I never claimed she liked me.”

“Okay, you two skanks need to get the fuck out of here before my boyfriend...”

“Enough of this shit,” I snarled. I once more grabbed Kara by the wrist and dragged her with me. “I have news for you, sweetheart. Your boyfriend is dead.”

“Dead?! You killed Mark?”

“Yeah,” I turned to face her. “About thirty years ago, and if you don’t stop fucking around, he’s going to return the favor to all of us.”

Chapter 29

Christy had been good to her word. She’d not only somehow moved the crates off the trapdoor, but she’d melted a heavy padlock that had been used to lock it.

It was handy to have a witch around. I briefly considered offering her a job on my payroll before dismissing the idea. There would be time for discussing staff additions later. The sound of someone breaking down the back door of the dressing room reached my ears. They were coming.

Christy kept Kara from bolting while I pried the heavy door up, the hinges squealing in protest. I grabbed our reluctant hostage and dragged her down the ladder with me. Christy brought up the rear.

The subbasement was a large open area, more an extension of the sewer system than anything. It smelled of damp decay, and I couldn’t help but notice that the stone walls and floor were scratched all to hell.

It was best to not consider what had made those.

“Follow me.” I started toward what had once been the main tunnel access.

 “Ouch!” a voice behind me hissed. Almost immediately, I had to blink as a white light filled the room. A ball of energy sprung from Christy’s fingertips. Oh yeah, almost forgot I was the only one with night vision.

“That’s better,” she said, taking a look around. “Big rats, you said?”

“Really big ones.”

“What the fuck?!” Kara shrieked, her eyes wide in the magical light.

“Newsflash, doll.” I dragged her forward with me. “Your sister-in-law to be is a witch, not a bitch...that one’s my job.”

“Kara!” a voice cried from up above - Mark’s. “
FIGHT THEM!!
”

Thankfully, I was ready for him. “
IGNORE THAT ASSHOLE!!
” It cost me, though. I staggered from the effort, but one consolation was that he was probably doing the same. Vamps our age weren’t up to the task of a protracted compulsion tug-o-war with a human rope. With any luck, he wouldn’t dare try again while in close pursuit of us - it would leave him vulnerable.

Gathering myself, I stepped forward to where I remembered the access grate to be and saw...nothing. Fuck!

Looking closer, I saw the vague outline of masonry work. They’d sealed it up with a cement plug. Jesus Christ, they really were scared of whatever was down here. I began to doubt the wisdom of my escape plan.

“Give it up, Lucinda!” Mark called. Behind us, several sets of feet began to descend the ladder. Shit!

“We’re trapped,” I said.

“Wanna bet?” Christy replied, turning back toward the trapdoor. A red glow enveloped her body, illuminating the room in bloody silhouettes - quite apt, considering the circumstances. It wasn’t anything new for me, other than not being the target for a change, but it definitely freaked out the girl. Kara's eyes grew even wider and she looked like she was about to scream her head off.

Pity that I beat her to it.

“No!” I cried, the old me fighting her way to the surface once more. “Blow the wall...uh, you might not hit all of them.” Goddamn, I really needed to get my head on straight.

Christy eyed me skeptically for a moment before turning and taking aim toward the wall in front of us.

“You have enough in you?” I asked.

“I guess we’ll find out.”

Kara let loose a whining cry to Mark just as a rush of power sped from Christy’s body. It slammed into the wall like a wrecking ball. The concrete shattered, sending smoke and dust billowing in our direction.

The girl’s screams dissolved into choked coughs, which was a good thing for her sake. The concept of decking her and tossing her limp form over my shoulder had begun to creep into my mind. Unfortunately, that idea went right out the window as Christy dropped to one knee. The effort of moving the crates and, now this, had drained her already shaky batteries.

Fuck! When it rains, it pours...

Literally, it would seem. As the noise from the explosion subsided, the sound of distant rushing water hit my ears. The tunnels under Vegas were famous for their flash floods. Such was life in the desert. It was dry most of the time, but when it did rain, it came down like the wrath of God...or gods, in this case. This storm was anything but natural.

I shoved Kara forward. Looking down at Christy, I had a nanosecond to consider that not too long ago I would have gladly left her to whatever fate Mark had in store for her. Amazing what just a few months could do to a person. Hell, if push came to shove, I’d save her ass long before some other vamps...like say a certain redhead who had a boatload of pain coming her way the second I got back to New York.

I hauled Christy up and draped her arm over my shoulder. “You good to go?”

“Peachy,” she replied weakly.

I took a step forward, then hesitated. Multiple scents caught my nose from up ahead: stagnant water, mold, decay, and something beneath it all...a pungent smell like someone had decided to fry up rotten eggs on a brimstone-fueled griddle.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. Probably just a...ARGH!” Red-hot pain lanced my side a second before a thunderous explosion echoed in the room around us. The fuckers were armed, what a surprise.

“Kill them all!” a voice commanded from behind us through the smoke that continued to linger in the air. It was probably the only thing saving us from being riddled with holes. Sadly, Christy’s little magic ball of light still hung in the air. Whatever cover we had wasn’t all that good.

Biting my lip against the pain...a thirty-eight caliber from the feel of it - I dragged Christy forward. Thankfully, the bullet had just grazed me. As it was, it hurt like a motherfucker, but wasn’t debilitating. My enhanced healing would deal with it soon enough.

Fortunately, the concept of possibly getting shot in all the confusion had sunk into Kara’s head and she’d taken the hint. Moving ahead of us, at least to the edge of the light, she stepped into the tunnel.

The entryway opened up into the sewers about twenty feet ahead. Once through, I leaned Christy against the wall on one side and dragged the girl to the other with me.

“They shot at us!” she whined.

“Perceptive, ain’t you?”

“They could have...”

“Hit you? Yeah, I’d suggest you remember that,” I hissed back. “Now shut up!” I bent and grabbed a couple of fist-sized hunks of concrete from the ground. I didn’t have a gun, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t be just as dangerous. Footsteps entered the tunnel behind us and I whipped a rock in the general direction, putting my vampiric strength behind it.

A scream of pain was my reward. Ah, gotta love that. I threw a few more and gunshots rang out in response along with the whine of bullets ricocheting off the walls. It was a standoff. They couldn’t hit us, but as long as they were in the tunnel, I could barely miss.

At last, I heard the retreat of footsteps.

“Give us the girl, Lucinda,” Mark called out. “I just want her. You and the witch can go. We won’t follow.”

What the fuck? Did he think I’d gone stupid in the past hour?

“See?” Kara asked, trying to weasel out of my grasp. “Let me go and they’ll...”

“You really are your brother’s sister, aren’t you?”

“We can do this all day!” Christy called out from opposite me. She’d regained her composure, but was apparently all set to lose it again. She raised her arms and started chanting softly. What the hell? It was doubtful she had enough juice in her to send a ball of fiery death at our pursuers. The truth of the matter was some part of me still wasn’t sure I wanted her to - a thought I was probably smart not to vocalize.

Christy finished what she was doing and slumped down again, breathing hard. I waited for something to blow up, but nothing happened. After a moment, she got back to her feet, using the wall to steady herself. “Let’s go,” she called out quietly.

I was about to question whether she’d just lost her mind, when I heard a voice call out from nowhere, “Step on out so I can knock someone else’s head off!” It sounded nearly identical to my own. What the hell?

Christy smiled in the light of her magic glowball, then stepped away from the wall...or at least one of her did. I saw two Christies. One was crouched with her head peeking out toward the entrance. The other, standing there, waved me on.

“Let’s go,” the second one said. “It won’t last long.”

Dragging Kara with me, I stepped toward her, half expecting a hail of gunfire to follow our movement. When nothing happened, I looked back, only half surprised to see that another me had appeared in the same spot I’d been - some kind of illusion no doubt.

I let out a small laugh. “Let’s go, kiddo.”

In response, Kara screamed Mark’s name at the top of her lungs.

I turned, balling a fist, but Christy said, “It’s okay. That glamour will block sound from this side. But we need to move. I don’t think they’ll be fooled for long.”

I nodded, but then remembered where we were. Magic or not, drawing attention to ourselves probably wasn’t a good idea. Pulling Kara close, I got right in her face and bared my fangs. “Here’s the deal. You know witches are real, and now you know vampires are, too. Want to know another secret? I’m pretty sure we’re not the worst things down here. Keep your fucking mouth shut unless you want to meet whatever is.”