Saturday, June 5, 2010
We all stood and Eric moved faster than a human eye could see and joined us. He looked at Bill and Pam in a meaningful way and Renee made to ask Bill where Chris was but Eric leaned forward and said something to her and she looked at him and nodded.
Victoria and Albert had been a true royal love affair. I could hardly wait to hear the story how they became Vampires. I could see a young man walking behind them who could only be Albert Victor, the grandson, who many Ripperologists consider to be the man who killed six prostitutes and became the first serial killer of the modern age.
I could see the weres making their way toward us in such a way that did not seem to obvious. Something was about to happen. I squeezed Barrister’s hand and he squeezed mine back. Bill looked at me with a fleeting look of warning and made myself still, trying to settle my heartbeat.
“Welcome guests,” said the Queen Victoria, still stout and proud and regal, looking very much as she always had except for those fangs. “Let the dancing begin.” A giant were came and claimed Fairy. She looked at Eric.
“Go,” he said. Fairy slid away from the table and into the embrace of the were who immediately began to waltz with her.
“What is going on?” she said, barely a whisper.
“Your Vamp and my packmaster says we are to literally waltz you humans out of here,” he said. “If you don’t go, I won’t fight with you, but you best be going ‘cuz this is going to get messy.”
“How?” said Fairy.
“You and your Vamps crossed the line on Markingham,” he said.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” she said. “Please, I’m going to be sick.”
“Hold on,” he said. He danced her toward the ladies room and let her go in and Fairy went in and took out her phone and called a number.
I was standing by Barrister. I was watching my friends, one by one being claimed by werewolf partners. My phone buzzed. I opened it. Fairy was texting me. Eric is getting rid of us…big trouble…what will we do? I showed it to Barrister. Eric was beside me before he could speak.
“Do not think you will not leave this place. You will dance with a werewolf who will get you out of here,” said Eric.
“No, that isn’t going to happen Eric,” I said.
“Aslinn,” said Bill. “You and the other girls have to get out of here.”
“Bill, don’t boss me around,” I said quietly. He grabbed me and pulled me out onto the dance floor and began to waltz with me.
“You will do precisely as I say,” he said, his voice low, his eyes trying to hold mine in his gaze.
“Stop trying to glamour me Bill,” I said. “I won’t go without you and I won’t go without Barrister.”
“Please, Aslinn, just leave,” he begged.
“No,” I said. “You are hurting my hand Bill.” I said calmly. He loosened his grip and looked at me. I looked around. I saw the were who had been dancing with Fairy dancing with Raki. Renee was gone, so was Scarlett. Aolani was gone as was Linzy.
Minnie, Vi, Bella, Westexan, Lina, Jen and myself were the only girls I could see. Barrister, Body Guard and God Speed were sitting at the table they were talking quietly with Eric and Pam and Liam.
“Bill, whatever happens, we want to be here, with you and Eric and Pam,” I said. “This was no pleasure trip but I would not have missed it for the world. I have seen a world that makes the mundane world rather lusterless. If we make it back, we will have a great story to tell. If we don’t, I’ll have had the time of my life.”
Bill said nothing but he was not a happy Vampire.
Too bad.
When the waltz ended, the Queen motioned to the were who had announced the royal couple and she whispered to him, glancing at Eric. Liam looked at Eric.
“We were too late,” said Liam. “Not all of your people got out.”
“When the fight begins, cover them as long as you can,” said Eric. “Try and get some of them out during the battle.”
“We shall do our best,” said Liam, standing up. “I am being summoned.” Liam walked over to the Vampire Queen.
“My Lady?” he said.
“Who is the Vampire you are conversing with?” she asked.
“Eric Northman, from America,” said Liam.
“He is the one who killed Lord Edward Markingham?” she asked.
“Yes, my lady,” he said.
“And are all of his friends here?” asked the Queen.
“Yes my lady, two other Vampires and a few of their blood companions,” he said. “You should let the tarts go my lady.”
“Oh no, some of them engaged in the massacre of Vampires at Lesnes Abbey,” said the Queen. She motioned to the dark haired were again. “Summon them forth.”
“Will Eric Northman and his cortege please present yourselves to Queen Victoria,” he announced.
“Aslinn, if we don’t make it out, I love you and all my sister wives,” said Bill.
“We love you too, Bill,” I said.
“Stand with Barrister behind us, if we can attack, you might be able to escape,” he said grimly. “We should have let you be.”
“Too late, no sense in crying over spilled…blood,” I said, smiling at him.
“Aslinn, you are such a smart ass,” said Eric as he walked by me.
“That’s what you like about me,” I said back.
“I don’t like you that much right now,” he called back softly. He stopped in front of the throne. Pam joined him and so did Bill. The rest of us lined up behind them.
Back at the car, Aolani and Renee and Linzy and Scarlett were arguing. Jessica had left with Chris and Butter as instructed and three weres were trying to convince them to at least get inside the limo. They were refusing.
“My husband and my lover are in there,” argued the witch. “My husband is one of you.”
“Lady,” said the big blond were, nearly as big as Eric. “Your man and Vampire have dragged you out in the middle of a shite storm. Now you get in the car and sit still, or we will drag you into the car.”
“Hey buddy, we signed up for this shit storm, so quit bossing us around,” said Aolani. “Or I will turn you into something, you got that?”
“Figures that Viking would line up with a witch,” said the were.
“Who is still in there?” asked Renee.
“Lina, Westexan, Fairy, Aslinn, Bella, Vi, Jen and Minnie, God Speed, Body Guard, Barrister and Pam and Bill and Eric,” said Linzy.
“We have to help them,” said Scarlett.
“How will we be able to get back in?” asked Renee.
“Oh no, you are not going back in the Tower. You are going to the Midnight Garden and get ready to haul ass out of London,” said the were.
“No we aren’t,” said Scarlett. She pulled up the skirt of her dress and brought out the silver knife. “Our friends are in there and we are not leaving without them.”
“Not even the manners to bow,” said Victoria.
“I am an American,” said Eric. “I bow to no queen but my own.”
“Do you Northman?” asked Victoria. “I understand you revolting against your queen, who as a sister sovereign I should be contacting her about your rebellious ways.”
“Go ahead,” said Eric.
“Willful, obstinate,” said Victoria, fairly trembling with her rage. “Why did you kill one of my subjects?”
“Your subject was in the human trafficking business,” said Barrister, speaking up. “And according to Elizabeth II the trafficking of humans by Vampires is punishable by eternity in a box. I think we did him an unforeseen favor.”
“You are a Britisher and you speak that way to me?” she asked.
“I am the QC for Queen Elizabeth II and as such, I have made it my duty to report to her special minister for Vampire affairs about the nefarious dealings of your treasured subject,” said Barrister. “He was also holding the Vampire progeny of Mr. Northman, Miss Pam Ravencroft, who is British born from a prominent family, hostage and was torturing her. I think you will agree that this is an egregious act in any Vampire court in the world. The only Vampire who has the right to decease a Vampire’s child is the maker except when being dealt with by a king or queen of a given kingdom, with direct permission of the ruling queen. That means that before anything happens, you have to contact Queen Sophie Anne Leclerc before destroying her at least.”
“Do not presume human to tell me what I may or may not do with a Vampire in my kingdom, whether he is my citizen or not. Vampires are beholden to the ruler in whose area they are in,” said Victoria. “From what I understand Viking, your child was his long before she was yours and it was you who stole her. That means he had a right by family blood to dispose of her as he wished.”
I looked at the old queen. She was a bit younger than Bill, but because she was the Queen, the hierarchy would not work. I cursed the Vampire tradition. It complicated everything. I was watching Albert Victor, the mad son of the Queen of England. You could tell he had been badly turned. His eyes were strange and rolled around in their orbits like a couple of flies in a jar. He must have been turned when he was in the grips of the syphilis that would otherwise have killed him. I looked away when he felt my stare. I didn’t want the crazy bastard who butchered Mary Kelly looking at me. I could feel the phone in my pocket buzzing but I could not look at it. I knew Fairy or perhaps one of the others was trying to get to me.
“Dammit!!!” cursed Scarlett. “She won’t pick up.”
“Perhaps she can’t,” said Renee.
“Don’t say that,” said Scarlett.
“No, I mean, she can’t answer the phone just yet,” said Renee. “Please mister, get us back into the Tower!!!”
“Nope, we won’t get paid if we do,” said the were.
“C’mon now girls,” said one of the other weres. “Let’s get us in the limo.”
“You give us no recourse Viking. We require that you and your Vampires die and your humans be made Vampire,” said Victoria. “They will replace the Vampires we lost and give us the justice you seek.”
I lifted my foot and reached down and unsnapped the blade I had strapped to my ankle. It was not long but it was silver and it would go deep enough to pierce a Vampire’s heart. I held it along my arm. Barrister pulled his pistol and held it down to his side. He looked at Body Guard. The were was tense with the desire to change. God Speed had both hands full with a stiletto switchblade and pistol. Vi had her fists covered with a pair of silver knuckles with sharp nobs on them. Lina had her pistol pulled as did Minnie. I could not see Westexan but I knew she was packing a gun loaded with silver bullets. Jen slid out of her high heels and I did as well. You never get to wear steel toes boots to formal parties.
“I will tell you, your majesty, what will happen. My friends and I will walk out of here and we will collect our friends and we will leave your forsaken country and your sick Vampires,” said Eric. “And we will do this one of two ways: With or without your blood on our clothes, your choice my lady.” Eric said that last with a sarcastic twist.
Our Vampires began to back up. Barrister and Body Guard and God Speed turned around and we girls did the same. It felt like the world had slowed down and everything was moving underwater. I watched as weres in the back of the room began to tear off their clothes to prepare for the change and Body Guard was doing the same.
“Body Guard?” said God Speed.
“Yeah GS?” he said.
“I have seen you naked one time too many as it is,” said God Speed.
“Well, I never was that shy,” said Body Guard. In the time it takes to blink a huge black wolf had taken Body Guard’s place.
Liam laughed loudly. “Fuck this shit lads, let’s do something about these pale bastards what have been pulling their heels on us and takin’ what’s ours for too God-damned long. Eric, you are going to owe us big time!!!”
“Get ready,” said Eric. “Here it comes.”
Vampires flew out of every corner. Barrister raised his arm and shot a Vampire in the face and he melted into a puddle. I raised my arm with the knife and slashed another in the throat and God Speed shot her in the heart. Minnie squatted down over Body Guard’s puddle of clothes and picked up his pistol and shoved the barrel into a Vampire’s mouth and pulled the trigger. Lina and Jen stood side by side and shot two Vampires in the chest.
Vi was astride a Vampire who must have been quite young and she pounded on his face with her silver knuckles. His face was burning and she was damaging him faster than he could heal. Suddenly a long arm thrust into the Vampire’s chest came out full of heart. Eric picked her up and kissed her on the mouth. “I knew you were no shrinking Violet, dearest,” said the Viking, laughing, pushing her behind him.
The weres were fighting as well. They were brutal. I watched with fascination while one literally dug its way through a Vampire’s chest until the black rotting thing was mush. It howled savagely. I snapped out of it long enough to shoot a Vampire in the head, her mouth wide open.
I turned around and saw the Duke of Windsor grab Westexan. She struggled against him as he filled his hand with her hair and he yanked her head back and bit down into her throat. A were jumped on Albert Victor’s back and pulled him off and another were pulled Westexan away and under a table. I ran toward her and slid under the table.
“Oh shit West,” I said. “Hold it together, I’ll get Bill.” I looked around and looked for Bill. He had just twisted the head off a Vampire. He looked around. “Bill!”
He was there before I could blink. “West has been mauled by a Vampire,” I said. He pulled her out and looked at her.
“I do not have time to heal her yet,” he said. He reached down for the skirt of her gown and tore off a strip and wrapped the wound very snuggly. “Leave her under there; we will come back for her.” He pulled me out from under the table. “Aslinn grab one of the girls and begin to make your way out.”
“But West?” I said.
“I will take care of her,” he said. “Go!” he pushed me toward the little tangle of our group. I sidled up to Vi.
“Bill wants us to start moving out of the room and heading toward the exit. You and Lina go together,” I said. I looked around. I could not see where the prince was and it didn’t look like he was deceased. Suddenly, I saw him, mad with rage. He was standing on the dais, where Victoria and Albert had been sitting. He had jumped up to the wall and grabbed a huge spear with a bronze tip. Ornamental it may have been meant to be, but it made a formidable weapon. He was aiming at Eric’s broad back, the one with the target on it.
Time slowed down as I watched the crown prince draw his arm back and throw the spear. I made a leap of faith and screamed like a banshee. Eric turned and his pale eyes were huge. The only thing I could feel was his huge hands catching me around the waist, but I did not feel the spear break my collar bone and embed its self deep into my shoulder.
“No!” screamed Bill. He rushed with Vampire speed and pulled the spear out of me and turned to the crown prince.
“Sorry old chap to kill your pet that way,” he said. I felt Barrister picking me up and Eric and Bill were turned toward the man who was Jack the Ripper.
“She won’t die,” said Eric.
“She’ll bleed to death before you get her out of this room,” he laughed, his crazy eyes rolling around in his head.
“Bill, shall we?” asked Eric lazily.
“I thought you would never ask,” he said. The two Vampires grabbed the crown prince by an arm.
“Make a wish Bill,” said Eric. It did not take long to tear Albert Victor apart. Once they had stretched out his arms tight, they both drove their fists into his chest. There was an audible and sickening ripping noise as both Vampires ripped his chest open clear to the back bone. He was collapsing, like a wax statue left in the sun too long and Minnie and Lina and God Speed watched as the prince tore from his chest to his shoulder and his black guts spilled out on to the dais. Bill and Eric were covered in the thick gelatinous blood of the Vampire, the semi coagulated blood hung like ropes from their arms.
They stopped and body sagged between them. “Well, Bill,” said Eric. “Looks like you got the bigger half of the wish bone.”
“Could you two Vampires stop congratulating yourselves and heal my fiancée please,” said Barrister.
“Let’s move,” said Eric.
The rest of the Vampires were standing there in shock and blood and watched as Bill went to Westexan and pulled her from under the table and picked her up effortlessly. They walked out, God Speed, Lina and Bella and Vi and Minnie covering us. Body Guard walked in front of us, with Pam, growling at any who pretended they might move a muscle. The werewolves of London took up the rear.
I was semi conscious; I could feel pain now, a deep excruciating pain.
“It’s okay, they will fix you up,” said Barrister.
The others were still standing outside waiting. They had heard the screams and the sounds of battle. Scarlett looked over at the group emerging from the Tower. “Oh shit!” she cried. “Get into the cars, hurry!” she said.
They got in and made room for the injured. Barrister and I were put into the limo with Eric and Bill and Westexan were in the other. The others split up to get into the limos themselves.
“Turn on the lights,” said Eric. I was lying in the floor of the limo. Eric got in the floor with me and propped me up against him.
“Your blood Eric?” I said weakly. “I don’t think so.”
“Shut up Aslinn,” he said. He pulled at his clothes to bare his arm and he bit into it and held it to my mouth. “Do it or Barrister will hold your head and I will force it down.” I acquiesced. I drank Eric’s blood for what seemed a long time and then I went to sleep.
Bill did the same with Westexan. The savage bite was nearly gone before we got to the hotel. The limos went down into the service parking area and we were taken up in the heavy duty lift.
Barrister brought me into our suite. I knew very little. I felt hands undressing me and then being bathed. I looked up into Pam’s blue eyes as she held me while someone else bathed me.
“Thank you Pam,” I said.
“Well, it is the least I could do, you saved Eric,” she said.
I woke again, being settled into bed, sheets and blankets being pulled up around me.
“She should drink some Tru:Blood,” said Pam. “When she wakes up.”
“Okay,” said Barrister. “Thank you Pam.”
“Not a problem,” she said.
I slept all day and until sundown. I felt someone lying next to me in the bed. I looked over and saw Bill’s bright blue eyes looking down at me. I felt someone’s cool hand holding mine. I looked over at the Viking.
“Praying for me, now Viking?” I asked.
“Sure, why not,” he said. He leaned forward. “That was a very brave and foolish thing you did for me and I am in your debt.”
“Think nothing of it,” I said.
“Here, babe, you should drink this,” said Barrister. He handed me a warm bottle of Tru:Blood, O-.
“How many do I have to drink?” I asked.
“Two, at least,” said Bill. He helped me prop up.
“Oh man,” I moaned. Jessica laughed.
“Now you know how I feel Aslinn,” she said. “Drink up, every drop.” She shook her finger at me as I had on many an occasion. I drank some of it and I gagged.
“Oh yuck,” I said. Bill got up from the bed.
“Make sure she finishes,” said Bill to his protégée. She gave him a salute and sat down on the bed.
“How is Westexan?” I asked.
“Her throat is a little sore, but she will be okay,” said Eric.
“Are we safe?” I asked.
“Yes, but we are to leave the country as soon as our wounded can move,” he said.
“Tell me about Albert and Victoria,” I said. “It will get my mind off the blood.”
“Albert, the King of England became Vampire first. He was given a mock crown funeral with all the trimmings, but he stayed hidden,” explained the Viking. “The second member of the family was Albert Victor.”
“Was he Jack the Ripper?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Eric. “He began to kill the women when he contracted syphilis. For revenge. All that misinformation about it being the royal physician or it being a Masonic plot, or the work of a sailor was designed to hide the true culprit. Mary Kelly, the last one, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. But Albert Victor was quite damaged by the syphilis, increasing his fury. He was dying by the time he killed Mary Kelly though he did not fully realize it. As the story goes, Albert, his grandfather, then turned him Vampire, healing him of the syphilis but not being able to undo the damage it had already done to his brain. He was a mad Vampire when he was turned, but the family kept him in control and later faked his death as well. When Victoria finally was ready to be turned, she was made Vampire by a friend of ours.”
“Let me guess, Markingham,” I said, slugging back the Tru:Blood, finishing my first bottle. Fairy brought me another one.
“Yes,” he said. “They knew that if Albert made Victoria Vampire, they would not be able to stay together, so Markingham made the Queen a Vampire and left her under the care of her husband. They over threw the ruling Vampire King of England.”
“Who was that?” I asked.
“James I, “said Eric.
“The one who commissioned the King James Edition of the Bible?” I said.
“Yes,” said Eric. “It was quite a coup and they became the first reigning royal couple in Vampire History.”
“So, is Barrister safe to stay here?” I asked.
“He should be, for the time being,” said Eric.
“So now I have big old heaping helping of Viking blood in my veins, just swimming around, giving me dreams, connecting the two of us,” I said.
“It was necessary,” he said. “Bill can give you blood later to counter the effects of my blood, to weaken it,” he said. “But tell me Aslinn, is it all that bad, having me inside you?” I rolled my eyes at his double entendre. “My blood, that is,” he amended quickly.
“I have two men in my life already, I don’t need a third,” I said.
“Well, it will fade eventually,” said the Viking. “Keep drinking Aslinn, you are almost through.”
“Man I can’t wait to eat something else,” I said, slugging back another big swallow. “A big cheese burger with fries.”
“Well, tomorrow morning you will be taking us all home,” said Eric.
“The world will never look quite the same again, will it?” I asked.
“No, it won’t. But really Aslinn, isn’t this why you like being in this in world, to escape from the everyday and go into the everynight?” he said, smiling his lop sided grin.
“Yeah, but I really need to take a couple of nights off and work on my tan,” I said.
Eric laughed at me and looked at Barrister. “Order this woman a meal,” he said. “She deserves it.”
To be Continued.
Sunday June 6, 2010
The flight had been uneventful and we were exhausted by the time we made it back to Fangtasia. The Anubis people would come back at sundown to pick up the travel coffins, but as it was, they were laid carefully on the dance floor of Eric’s club. Ginger was excited and a little fuddled at our appearance though she knew damned well we were coming. She was glad that Eric was back, she had been unhappy under the thumb of Chow and now things would be back to normal.
I was not so sure, and I knew the others felt the same way. They were tired, they were worried. Everything that happened us would somehow connect with the adventures and how the situation would spell itself out. The only exception would be the fae. We knew from the Connection the fae would not appear until a bit later but in the world of the Source, it was hard to say. Whatever happened, we would be there. I just hoped that everything would be sorted out.
I kissed Barrister goodbye this morning, holding him tightly as I could with my one arm, the other still stiff and sore but otherwise healed. I did not even scar. That was one nice thing about Eric’s ancientness, his blood was powerful. Still, I was not sure that I liked it and I looked forward to it fading back to a level of toleration. Barrister had asked me why I got in front of the spear heading for Eric.
Eric represented to me that touch of glamour to the adventures. I was fascinated he was so old and there had been many times I sat with him in the parlor and asked him questions about history, things he had seen, the people he had known, the world of the everynight. He was handsome and mercenary and very funny, a good companion all the way around. There was also a vulnerability. He was who he was and could handle most situations, but there were little quirks about the human world he was moving openly in now that he did not understand. He was sometimes a wonderfully fuddled foreigner, a stranger in a strange land and he was trying to learn the nuances of things he never bothered to learn before because he was not in the open. If he had died that night, the glamour would have died and we would have been poorer for it. So, I suppose my actions were like the actions of conservationists who risk their lives in Japanese waters to save the whales. They know if the whales die, the seas would become huge, lonely places without their songs.
We used the Fangtasia phone and ordered food to be delivered and we answered Ginger’s questions with noncommittal responses. She did not need to know we had been in three major situations and the Vampires had been in jeopardy as well as us. I wondered what exactly would have happened to Fangtasia had Eric and Pam died.
The huge po’boy sandwiches arrived and we had bottles of cold beer. Afterwards, I settled back with Renee and Scarlett and I smoked a cigarette. It was one of those nice Turkish blends, a pack of which I found in Eric’s office. I noticed the office was cleaned within an inch of its life. A wonderful gesture, but I am sure that he really would not like it. Like anyone else, he knew where everything was and now that it had been cleaned, he would be clueless. Hopefully, he would not be too angry with Ginger.
Pam was the first Vampire to raise up from her coffin. She looked ready for the evening, rising fully clothed. She was greeted with a warm bottle of Tru:Blood and she immediately logged on to the computer driven till and checked the receipts for the three weeks they had been gone. She did not seem unpleased. Chow would get a very big bonus, but Ginger would get a bonus too, though not what she would like.
Bill was up next. He sat up and stretched and climbed out of the coffin. He was given a Tru: Blood and he immediately checked on me and Westexan. He was concerned that I was still sore.
“Would you like some more blood?” he asked.
“I would,” I said. “On Tuesday night.” I mentioned my date night with my lovely Vampire husband. It would be the last date before the adventures and sadly the last date any of us would have until he was freed or escaped from his kidnappers. It made me a little sad.
Jessica rose from her day sleep and was given a warm bottle. I stuck my tongue out at her as she grimaced. “Hey I choked it down and I am not even a Vampire,” I reminded her. Chow arrived and called Anubis for them to come for the travel coffins. Eric would be up by the time they arrived. I watched Fairy and Ginger jockeying for position. Of course Fairy would trump her and be able to present the Viking with his meal being the lead wife.
When Eric finally leisurely rose, Chris and Jessica was on the stage with one of the dancers who was showing them how to use the dance pole. I don’t think Renee appreciated it much, stripper was not high on her list for professions for Chris, but the Viking was enjoying it. The Anubis people came soon after and picked up the coffins and Eric tendered them a check with a generous bonus. He also gave us checks. His wives of course demurred, and I hesitated when he handed me my check.
“I can’t take all of this Eric,” I said.
“Yes you can,” he said. “I am still indebted you, and to all of you, but to you particularly. I would like it very much if you would burn me a disc of the new information you glean from the records we sent to Bill’s.”
“I don’t see why not,” I said. “Eric, you will do whatever you can to rescue Bill, won’t you?”
“You shall just have to wait and see,” he said casually as he walked away.
Finally, we started going out to our cars. I would be bringing Renee and Chris with me and we would be driving to Fairy’s tonight, God Speed and Jen following behind in their truck and we would stay the night with her, then God Speed and Jen would travel up with us as far as their house. We would stop somewhere along the way and Renee and Chris would stop at my house and spend the night and fly up from there to her home in the Great White North.
Scarlett and Vi and Minnie and Aolani and Body Guard and Westexan would be convoying together. They would drop Butter on their way. Others would be heading to their own routes as well. I was standing outside, Bill was saying good bye to Vi and Westexan and Bella. He kissed them gently. Vi was to meet Bill for their date tomorrow. As I said before, it would be bittersweet.
He came over and said goodbye to Renee and then he came to me.
“Get well,” he said.
“I will,” I said.
“Rest and relax as much as you can,” he said.
I will,” I said. He pulled me gently to him and kissed me. “Take care of yourself.”
“I’ll try,” he said.
Eric, Pam and Jessica appeared to be having similar conversations. There was a mixture of excitement and anxiety for us as the final week was upon us. We would see visions of loveliness and desire and visions of despair and pain. We would laugh and cry and be angry and hurt and amazed and we wanted it all. God help us, we really were junkies.
So we headed out, traveling through the night, the road a coal black ribbon before us and many more adventures ahead and miles to go before we sleep.
We all stood and Eric moved faster than a human eye could see and joined us. He looked at Bill and Pam in a meaningful way and Renee made to ask Bill where Chris was but Eric leaned forward and said something to her and she looked at him and nodded.
Victoria and Albert had been a true royal love affair. I could hardly wait to hear the story how they became Vampires. I could see a young man walking behind them who could only be Albert Victor, the grandson, who many Ripperologists consider to be the man who killed six prostitutes and became the first serial killer of the modern age.
I could see the weres making their way toward us in such a way that did not seem to obvious. Something was about to happen. I squeezed Barrister’s hand and he squeezed mine back. Bill looked at me with a fleeting look of warning and made myself still, trying to settle my heartbeat.
“Welcome guests,” said the Queen Victoria, still stout and proud and regal, looking very much as she always had except for those fangs. “Let the dancing begin.” A giant were came and claimed Fairy. She looked at Eric.
“Go,” he said. Fairy slid away from the table and into the embrace of the were who immediately began to waltz with her.
“What is going on?” she said, barely a whisper.
“Your Vamp and my packmaster says we are to literally waltz you humans out of here,” he said. “If you don’t go, I won’t fight with you, but you best be going ‘cuz this is going to get messy.”
“How?” said Fairy.
“You and your Vamps crossed the line on Markingham,” he said.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” she said. “Please, I’m going to be sick.”
“Hold on,” he said. He danced her toward the ladies room and let her go in and Fairy went in and took out her phone and called a number.
I was standing by Barrister. I was watching my friends, one by one being claimed by werewolf partners. My phone buzzed. I opened it. Fairy was texting me. Eric is getting rid of us…big trouble…what will we do? I showed it to Barrister. Eric was beside me before he could speak.
“Do not think you will not leave this place. You will dance with a werewolf who will get you out of here,” said Eric.
“No, that isn’t going to happen Eric,” I said.
“Aslinn,” said Bill. “You and the other girls have to get out of here.”
“Bill, don’t boss me around,” I said quietly. He grabbed me and pulled me out onto the dance floor and began to waltz with me.
“You will do precisely as I say,” he said, his voice low, his eyes trying to hold mine in his gaze.
“Stop trying to glamour me Bill,” I said. “I won’t go without you and I won’t go without Barrister.”
“Please, Aslinn, just leave,” he begged.
“No,” I said. “You are hurting my hand Bill.” I said calmly. He loosened his grip and looked at me. I looked around. I saw the were who had been dancing with Fairy dancing with Raki. Renee was gone, so was Scarlett. Aolani was gone as was Linzy.
Minnie, Vi, Bella, Westexan, Lina, Jen and myself were the only girls I could see. Barrister, Body Guard and God Speed were sitting at the table they were talking quietly with Eric and Pam and Liam.
“Bill, whatever happens, we want to be here, with you and Eric and Pam,” I said. “This was no pleasure trip but I would not have missed it for the world. I have seen a world that makes the mundane world rather lusterless. If we make it back, we will have a great story to tell. If we don’t, I’ll have had the time of my life.”
Bill said nothing but he was not a happy Vampire.
Too bad.
When the waltz ended, the Queen motioned to the were who had announced the royal couple and she whispered to him, glancing at Eric. Liam looked at Eric.
“We were too late,” said Liam. “Not all of your people got out.”
“When the fight begins, cover them as long as you can,” said Eric. “Try and get some of them out during the battle.”
“We shall do our best,” said Liam, standing up. “I am being summoned.” Liam walked over to the Vampire Queen.
“My Lady?” he said.
“Who is the Vampire you are conversing with?” she asked.
“Eric Northman, from America,” said Liam.
“He is the one who killed Lord Edward Markingham?” she asked.
“Yes, my lady,” he said.
“And are all of his friends here?” asked the Queen.
“Yes my lady, two other Vampires and a few of their blood companions,” he said. “You should let the tarts go my lady.”
“Oh no, some of them engaged in the massacre of Vampires at Lesnes Abbey,” said the Queen. She motioned to the dark haired were again. “Summon them forth.”
“Will Eric Northman and his cortege please present yourselves to Queen Victoria,” he announced.
“Aslinn, if we don’t make it out, I love you and all my sister wives,” said Bill.
“We love you too, Bill,” I said.
“Stand with Barrister behind us, if we can attack, you might be able to escape,” he said grimly. “We should have let you be.”
“Too late, no sense in crying over spilled…blood,” I said, smiling at him.
“Aslinn, you are such a smart ass,” said Eric as he walked by me.
“That’s what you like about me,” I said back.
“I don’t like you that much right now,” he called back softly. He stopped in front of the throne. Pam joined him and so did Bill. The rest of us lined up behind them.
Back at the car, Aolani and Renee and Linzy and Scarlett were arguing. Jessica had left with Chris and Butter as instructed and three weres were trying to convince them to at least get inside the limo. They were refusing.
“My husband and my lover are in there,” argued the witch. “My husband is one of you.”
“Lady,” said the big blond were, nearly as big as Eric. “Your man and Vampire have dragged you out in the middle of a shite storm. Now you get in the car and sit still, or we will drag you into the car.”
“Hey buddy, we signed up for this shit storm, so quit bossing us around,” said Aolani. “Or I will turn you into something, you got that?”
“Figures that Viking would line up with a witch,” said the were.
“Who is still in there?” asked Renee.
“Lina, Westexan, Fairy, Aslinn, Bella, Vi, Jen and Minnie, God Speed, Body Guard, Barrister and Pam and Bill and Eric,” said Linzy.
“We have to help them,” said Scarlett.
“How will we be able to get back in?” asked Renee.
“Oh no, you are not going back in the Tower. You are going to the Midnight Garden and get ready to haul ass out of London,” said the were.
“No we aren’t,” said Scarlett. She pulled up the skirt of her dress and brought out the silver knife. “Our friends are in there and we are not leaving without them.”
“Not even the manners to bow,” said Victoria.
“I am an American,” said Eric. “I bow to no queen but my own.”
“Do you Northman?” asked Victoria. “I understand you revolting against your queen, who as a sister sovereign I should be contacting her about your rebellious ways.”
“Go ahead,” said Eric.
“Willful, obstinate,” said Victoria, fairly trembling with her rage. “Why did you kill one of my subjects?”
“Your subject was in the human trafficking business,” said Barrister, speaking up. “And according to Elizabeth II the trafficking of humans by Vampires is punishable by eternity in a box. I think we did him an unforeseen favor.”
“You are a Britisher and you speak that way to me?” she asked.
“I am the QC for Queen Elizabeth II and as such, I have made it my duty to report to her special minister for Vampire affairs about the nefarious dealings of your treasured subject,” said Barrister. “He was also holding the Vampire progeny of Mr. Northman, Miss Pam Ravencroft, who is British born from a prominent family, hostage and was torturing her. I think you will agree that this is an egregious act in any Vampire court in the world. The only Vampire who has the right to decease a Vampire’s child is the maker except when being dealt with by a king or queen of a given kingdom, with direct permission of the ruling queen. That means that before anything happens, you have to contact Queen Sophie Anne Leclerc before destroying her at least.”
“Do not presume human to tell me what I may or may not do with a Vampire in my kingdom, whether he is my citizen or not. Vampires are beholden to the ruler in whose area they are in,” said Victoria. “From what I understand Viking, your child was his long before she was yours and it was you who stole her. That means he had a right by family blood to dispose of her as he wished.”
I looked at the old queen. She was a bit younger than Bill, but because she was the Queen, the hierarchy would not work. I cursed the Vampire tradition. It complicated everything. I was watching Albert Victor, the mad son of the Queen of England. You could tell he had been badly turned. His eyes were strange and rolled around in their orbits like a couple of flies in a jar. He must have been turned when he was in the grips of the syphilis that would otherwise have killed him. I looked away when he felt my stare. I didn’t want the crazy bastard who butchered Mary Kelly looking at me. I could feel the phone in my pocket buzzing but I could not look at it. I knew Fairy or perhaps one of the others was trying to get to me.
“Dammit!!!” cursed Scarlett. “She won’t pick up.”
“Perhaps she can’t,” said Renee.
“Don’t say that,” said Scarlett.
“No, I mean, she can’t answer the phone just yet,” said Renee. “Please mister, get us back into the Tower!!!”
“Nope, we won’t get paid if we do,” said the were.
“C’mon now girls,” said one of the other weres. “Let’s get us in the limo.”
“You give us no recourse Viking. We require that you and your Vampires die and your humans be made Vampire,” said Victoria. “They will replace the Vampires we lost and give us the justice you seek.”
I lifted my foot and reached down and unsnapped the blade I had strapped to my ankle. It was not long but it was silver and it would go deep enough to pierce a Vampire’s heart. I held it along my arm. Barrister pulled his pistol and held it down to his side. He looked at Body Guard. The were was tense with the desire to change. God Speed had both hands full with a stiletto switchblade and pistol. Vi had her fists covered with a pair of silver knuckles with sharp nobs on them. Lina had her pistol pulled as did Minnie. I could not see Westexan but I knew she was packing a gun loaded with silver bullets. Jen slid out of her high heels and I did as well. You never get to wear steel toes boots to formal parties.
“I will tell you, your majesty, what will happen. My friends and I will walk out of here and we will collect our friends and we will leave your forsaken country and your sick Vampires,” said Eric. “And we will do this one of two ways: With or without your blood on our clothes, your choice my lady.” Eric said that last with a sarcastic twist.
Our Vampires began to back up. Barrister and Body Guard and God Speed turned around and we girls did the same. It felt like the world had slowed down and everything was moving underwater. I watched as weres in the back of the room began to tear off their clothes to prepare for the change and Body Guard was doing the same.
“Body Guard?” said God Speed.
“Yeah GS?” he said.
“I have seen you naked one time too many as it is,” said God Speed.
“Well, I never was that shy,” said Body Guard. In the time it takes to blink a huge black wolf had taken Body Guard’s place.
Liam laughed loudly. “Fuck this shit lads, let’s do something about these pale bastards what have been pulling their heels on us and takin’ what’s ours for too God-damned long. Eric, you are going to owe us big time!!!”
“Get ready,” said Eric. “Here it comes.”
Vampires flew out of every corner. Barrister raised his arm and shot a Vampire in the face and he melted into a puddle. I raised my arm with the knife and slashed another in the throat and God Speed shot her in the heart. Minnie squatted down over Body Guard’s puddle of clothes and picked up his pistol and shoved the barrel into a Vampire’s mouth and pulled the trigger. Lina and Jen stood side by side and shot two Vampires in the chest.
Vi was astride a Vampire who must have been quite young and she pounded on his face with her silver knuckles. His face was burning and she was damaging him faster than he could heal. Suddenly a long arm thrust into the Vampire’s chest came out full of heart. Eric picked her up and kissed her on the mouth. “I knew you were no shrinking Violet, dearest,” said the Viking, laughing, pushing her behind him.
The weres were fighting as well. They were brutal. I watched with fascination while one literally dug its way through a Vampire’s chest until the black rotting thing was mush. It howled savagely. I snapped out of it long enough to shoot a Vampire in the head, her mouth wide open.
I turned around and saw the Duke of Windsor grab Westexan. She struggled against him as he filled his hand with her hair and he yanked her head back and bit down into her throat. A were jumped on Albert Victor’s back and pulled him off and another were pulled Westexan away and under a table. I ran toward her and slid under the table.
“Oh shit West,” I said. “Hold it together, I’ll get Bill.” I looked around and looked for Bill. He had just twisted the head off a Vampire. He looked around. “Bill!”
He was there before I could blink. “West has been mauled by a Vampire,” I said. He pulled her out and looked at her.
“I do not have time to heal her yet,” he said. He reached down for the skirt of her gown and tore off a strip and wrapped the wound very snuggly. “Leave her under there; we will come back for her.” He pulled me out from under the table. “Aslinn grab one of the girls and begin to make your way out.”
“But West?” I said.
“I will take care of her,” he said. “Go!” he pushed me toward the little tangle of our group. I sidled up to Vi.
“Bill wants us to start moving out of the room and heading toward the exit. You and Lina go together,” I said. I looked around. I could not see where the prince was and it didn’t look like he was deceased. Suddenly, I saw him, mad with rage. He was standing on the dais, where Victoria and Albert had been sitting. He had jumped up to the wall and grabbed a huge spear with a bronze tip. Ornamental it may have been meant to be, but it made a formidable weapon. He was aiming at Eric’s broad back, the one with the target on it.
Time slowed down as I watched the crown prince draw his arm back and throw the spear. I made a leap of faith and screamed like a banshee. Eric turned and his pale eyes were huge. The only thing I could feel was his huge hands catching me around the waist, but I did not feel the spear break my collar bone and embed its self deep into my shoulder.
“No!” screamed Bill. He rushed with Vampire speed and pulled the spear out of me and turned to the crown prince.
“Sorry old chap to kill your pet that way,” he said. I felt Barrister picking me up and Eric and Bill were turned toward the man who was Jack the Ripper.
“She won’t die,” said Eric.
“She’ll bleed to death before you get her out of this room,” he laughed, his crazy eyes rolling around in his head.
“Bill, shall we?” asked Eric lazily.
“I thought you would never ask,” he said. The two Vampires grabbed the crown prince by an arm.
“Make a wish Bill,” said Eric. It did not take long to tear Albert Victor apart. Once they had stretched out his arms tight, they both drove their fists into his chest. There was an audible and sickening ripping noise as both Vampires ripped his chest open clear to the back bone. He was collapsing, like a wax statue left in the sun too long and Minnie and Lina and God Speed watched as the prince tore from his chest to his shoulder and his black guts spilled out on to the dais. Bill and Eric were covered in the thick gelatinous blood of the Vampire, the semi coagulated blood hung like ropes from their arms.
They stopped and body sagged between them. “Well, Bill,” said Eric. “Looks like you got the bigger half of the wish bone.”
“Could you two Vampires stop congratulating yourselves and heal my fiancée please,” said Barrister.
“Let’s move,” said Eric.
The rest of the Vampires were standing there in shock and blood and watched as Bill went to Westexan and pulled her from under the table and picked her up effortlessly. They walked out, God Speed, Lina and Bella and Vi and Minnie covering us. Body Guard walked in front of us, with Pam, growling at any who pretended they might move a muscle. The werewolves of London took up the rear.
I was semi conscious; I could feel pain now, a deep excruciating pain.
“It’s okay, they will fix you up,” said Barrister.
The others were still standing outside waiting. They had heard the screams and the sounds of battle. Scarlett looked over at the group emerging from the Tower. “Oh shit!” she cried. “Get into the cars, hurry!” she said.
They got in and made room for the injured. Barrister and I were put into the limo with Eric and Bill and Westexan were in the other. The others split up to get into the limos themselves.
“Turn on the lights,” said Eric. I was lying in the floor of the limo. Eric got in the floor with me and propped me up against him.
“Your blood Eric?” I said weakly. “I don’t think so.”
“Shut up Aslinn,” he said. He pulled at his clothes to bare his arm and he bit into it and held it to my mouth. “Do it or Barrister will hold your head and I will force it down.” I acquiesced. I drank Eric’s blood for what seemed a long time and then I went to sleep.
Bill did the same with Westexan. The savage bite was nearly gone before we got to the hotel. The limos went down into the service parking area and we were taken up in the heavy duty lift.
Barrister brought me into our suite. I knew very little. I felt hands undressing me and then being bathed. I looked up into Pam’s blue eyes as she held me while someone else bathed me.
“Thank you Pam,” I said.
“Well, it is the least I could do, you saved Eric,” she said.
I woke again, being settled into bed, sheets and blankets being pulled up around me.
“She should drink some Tru:Blood,” said Pam. “When she wakes up.”
“Okay,” said Barrister. “Thank you Pam.”
“Not a problem,” she said.
I slept all day and until sundown. I felt someone lying next to me in the bed. I looked over and saw Bill’s bright blue eyes looking down at me. I felt someone’s cool hand holding mine. I looked over at the Viking.
“Praying for me, now Viking?” I asked.
“Sure, why not,” he said. He leaned forward. “That was a very brave and foolish thing you did for me and I am in your debt.”
“Think nothing of it,” I said.
“Here, babe, you should drink this,” said Barrister. He handed me a warm bottle of Tru:Blood, O-.
“How many do I have to drink?” I asked.
“Two, at least,” said Bill. He helped me prop up.
“Oh man,” I moaned. Jessica laughed.
“Now you know how I feel Aslinn,” she said. “Drink up, every drop.” She shook her finger at me as I had on many an occasion. I drank some of it and I gagged.
“Oh yuck,” I said. Bill got up from the bed.
“Make sure she finishes,” said Bill to his protégée. She gave him a salute and sat down on the bed.
“How is Westexan?” I asked.
“Her throat is a little sore, but she will be okay,” said Eric.
“Are we safe?” I asked.
“Yes, but we are to leave the country as soon as our wounded can move,” he said.
“Tell me about Albert and Victoria,” I said. “It will get my mind off the blood.”
“Albert, the King of England became Vampire first. He was given a mock crown funeral with all the trimmings, but he stayed hidden,” explained the Viking. “The second member of the family was Albert Victor.”
“Was he Jack the Ripper?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Eric. “He began to kill the women when he contracted syphilis. For revenge. All that misinformation about it being the royal physician or it being a Masonic plot, or the work of a sailor was designed to hide the true culprit. Mary Kelly, the last one, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. But Albert Victor was quite damaged by the syphilis, increasing his fury. He was dying by the time he killed Mary Kelly though he did not fully realize it. As the story goes, Albert, his grandfather, then turned him Vampire, healing him of the syphilis but not being able to undo the damage it had already done to his brain. He was a mad Vampire when he was turned, but the family kept him in control and later faked his death as well. When Victoria finally was ready to be turned, she was made Vampire by a friend of ours.”
“Let me guess, Markingham,” I said, slugging back the Tru:Blood, finishing my first bottle. Fairy brought me another one.
“Yes,” he said. “They knew that if Albert made Victoria Vampire, they would not be able to stay together, so Markingham made the Queen a Vampire and left her under the care of her husband. They over threw the ruling Vampire King of England.”
“Who was that?” I asked.
“James I, “said Eric.
“The one who commissioned the King James Edition of the Bible?” I said.
“Yes,” said Eric. “It was quite a coup and they became the first reigning royal couple in Vampire History.”
“So, is Barrister safe to stay here?” I asked.
“He should be, for the time being,” said Eric.
“So now I have big old heaping helping of Viking blood in my veins, just swimming around, giving me dreams, connecting the two of us,” I said.
“It was necessary,” he said. “Bill can give you blood later to counter the effects of my blood, to weaken it,” he said. “But tell me Aslinn, is it all that bad, having me inside you?” I rolled my eyes at his double entendre. “My blood, that is,” he amended quickly.
“I have two men in my life already, I don’t need a third,” I said.
“Well, it will fade eventually,” said the Viking. “Keep drinking Aslinn, you are almost through.”
“Man I can’t wait to eat something else,” I said, slugging back another big swallow. “A big cheese burger with fries.”
“Well, tomorrow morning you will be taking us all home,” said Eric.
“The world will never look quite the same again, will it?” I asked.
“No, it won’t. But really Aslinn, isn’t this why you like being in this in world, to escape from the everyday and go into the everynight?” he said, smiling his lop sided grin.
“Yeah, but I really need to take a couple of nights off and work on my tan,” I said.
Eric laughed at me and looked at Barrister. “Order this woman a meal,” he said. “She deserves it.”
To be Continued.
Sunday June 6, 2010
The flight had been uneventful and we were exhausted by the time we made it back to Fangtasia. The Anubis people would come back at sundown to pick up the travel coffins, but as it was, they were laid carefully on the dance floor of Eric’s club. Ginger was excited and a little fuddled at our appearance though she knew damned well we were coming. She was glad that Eric was back, she had been unhappy under the thumb of Chow and now things would be back to normal.
I was not so sure, and I knew the others felt the same way. They were tired, they were worried. Everything that happened us would somehow connect with the adventures and how the situation would spell itself out. The only exception would be the fae. We knew from the Connection the fae would not appear until a bit later but in the world of the Source, it was hard to say. Whatever happened, we would be there. I just hoped that everything would be sorted out.
I kissed Barrister goodbye this morning, holding him tightly as I could with my one arm, the other still stiff and sore but otherwise healed. I did not even scar. That was one nice thing about Eric’s ancientness, his blood was powerful. Still, I was not sure that I liked it and I looked forward to it fading back to a level of toleration. Barrister had asked me why I got in front of the spear heading for Eric.
Eric represented to me that touch of glamour to the adventures. I was fascinated he was so old and there had been many times I sat with him in the parlor and asked him questions about history, things he had seen, the people he had known, the world of the everynight. He was handsome and mercenary and very funny, a good companion all the way around. There was also a vulnerability. He was who he was and could handle most situations, but there were little quirks about the human world he was moving openly in now that he did not understand. He was sometimes a wonderfully fuddled foreigner, a stranger in a strange land and he was trying to learn the nuances of things he never bothered to learn before because he was not in the open. If he had died that night, the glamour would have died and we would have been poorer for it. So, I suppose my actions were like the actions of conservationists who risk their lives in Japanese waters to save the whales. They know if the whales die, the seas would become huge, lonely places without their songs.
We used the Fangtasia phone and ordered food to be delivered and we answered Ginger’s questions with noncommittal responses. She did not need to know we had been in three major situations and the Vampires had been in jeopardy as well as us. I wondered what exactly would have happened to Fangtasia had Eric and Pam died.
The huge po’boy sandwiches arrived and we had bottles of cold beer. Afterwards, I settled back with Renee and Scarlett and I smoked a cigarette. It was one of those nice Turkish blends, a pack of which I found in Eric’s office. I noticed the office was cleaned within an inch of its life. A wonderful gesture, but I am sure that he really would not like it. Like anyone else, he knew where everything was and now that it had been cleaned, he would be clueless. Hopefully, he would not be too angry with Ginger.
Pam was the first Vampire to raise up from her coffin. She looked ready for the evening, rising fully clothed. She was greeted with a warm bottle of Tru:Blood and she immediately logged on to the computer driven till and checked the receipts for the three weeks they had been gone. She did not seem unpleased. Chow would get a very big bonus, but Ginger would get a bonus too, though not what she would like.
Bill was up next. He sat up and stretched and climbed out of the coffin. He was given a Tru: Blood and he immediately checked on me and Westexan. He was concerned that I was still sore.
“Would you like some more blood?” he asked.
“I would,” I said. “On Tuesday night.” I mentioned my date night with my lovely Vampire husband. It would be the last date before the adventures and sadly the last date any of us would have until he was freed or escaped from his kidnappers. It made me a little sad.
Jessica rose from her day sleep and was given a warm bottle. I stuck my tongue out at her as she grimaced. “Hey I choked it down and I am not even a Vampire,” I reminded her. Chow arrived and called Anubis for them to come for the travel coffins. Eric would be up by the time they arrived. I watched Fairy and Ginger jockeying for position. Of course Fairy would trump her and be able to present the Viking with his meal being the lead wife.
When Eric finally leisurely rose, Chris and Jessica was on the stage with one of the dancers who was showing them how to use the dance pole. I don’t think Renee appreciated it much, stripper was not high on her list for professions for Chris, but the Viking was enjoying it. The Anubis people came soon after and picked up the coffins and Eric tendered them a check with a generous bonus. He also gave us checks. His wives of course demurred, and I hesitated when he handed me my check.
“I can’t take all of this Eric,” I said.
“Yes you can,” he said. “I am still indebted you, and to all of you, but to you particularly. I would like it very much if you would burn me a disc of the new information you glean from the records we sent to Bill’s.”
“I don’t see why not,” I said. “Eric, you will do whatever you can to rescue Bill, won’t you?”
“You shall just have to wait and see,” he said casually as he walked away.
Finally, we started going out to our cars. I would be bringing Renee and Chris with me and we would be driving to Fairy’s tonight, God Speed and Jen following behind in their truck and we would stay the night with her, then God Speed and Jen would travel up with us as far as their house. We would stop somewhere along the way and Renee and Chris would stop at my house and spend the night and fly up from there to her home in the Great White North.
Scarlett and Vi and Minnie and Aolani and Body Guard and Westexan would be convoying together. They would drop Butter on their way. Others would be heading to their own routes as well. I was standing outside, Bill was saying good bye to Vi and Westexan and Bella. He kissed them gently. Vi was to meet Bill for their date tomorrow. As I said before, it would be bittersweet.
He came over and said goodbye to Renee and then he came to me.
“Get well,” he said.
“I will,” I said.
“Rest and relax as much as you can,” he said.
I will,” I said. He pulled me gently to him and kissed me. “Take care of yourself.”
“I’ll try,” he said.
Eric, Pam and Jessica appeared to be having similar conversations. There was a mixture of excitement and anxiety for us as the final week was upon us. We would see visions of loveliness and desire and visions of despair and pain. We would laugh and cry and be angry and hurt and amazed and we wanted it all. God help us, we really were junkies.
So we headed out, traveling through the night, the road a coal black ribbon before us and many more adventures ahead and miles to go before we sleep.
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