Bite, p.16
Bite, page 16
The one with the joint tries to cop an attitude as he huffs, “What the hell do you want?”
Charlie sighs as he simply replies, “We need the men’s room and we would like to have some privacy. It would be in your best interest to leave now.”
“Fuck you man!” The other guy looks nervous as he glances at each one of our faces but his friend just puts a smug smile on his face as he snorts, “We’ll leave when we’re good and ready so back off douchebags.”
He flips us off with a cocky laugh and he puts the joint in his mouth so he can light it. This of course ticks off David who looks like he’s ready to smash this jerk’s head through the sink. He steps forward and with a menacing growl he barks, “I’m only going to say this once. Get the fuck out now!”
Now both of them shake with fear from the tone of his voice and quickly run out of the bathroom. Evan listens out to make sure no one else is going to enter and once we are alone, I turn to Joseph and ask, “What’s wrong?”
He is hesitant on saying anything but after a moment he answers, “I had one of my bad feelings.”
Joseph saying that suddenly makes my stomach drop with anxiety. There are vampires in the world that has special gifts like Charlie and I being able to read minds. Joseph’s, however, is being able to sense with something good or bad is going to happen. It sucks that he can’t exactly pinpoint what it is but that’s where Charlie comes in to look into the future and tell us exactly what is bothering Joseph.
I grow anxious and I wonder if his feeling is related to Gina. “About who,” I press fearing that he’ll say her name.
“I’m…I’m not sure.”
“Joseph please was it about Gina?”
He can’t answer nor look me in the eye so Charlie goes into a trance so he can see into the future. We all are quiet for a few moments while he is searching and I start pacing to the point to where I’m ready to lose my mind. Is Gina connected to this? What is going to happen to her? Is someone going to try to hurt her? I need to know who would even think of harming her so I could go rip their heads off. I feel my rage building and my fangs start growing out from my gums. My eyes turn red as I ball up my fists and just as I am about to explode, Charlie finally blinks back to the present.
I’m right in front of his face when he comes to and immediately ask, “What is it? What did you see?”
He takes a deep breath as he replies, “Joseph is right. Something bad is going to happen to Gina.”
“What? Tell me!”
He asks the others to huddle close so he can tell them what he saw while I look inside his head so I can see for myself.
It’s worse than I thought. When Charlie replays the vision, I see that whatever is troubling Joseph will happen here at the party. I see a blond is seething with rage for the way Gina had spoken to her earlier. Worst off, it was within earshot of their friends so she is equally embarrassed as well. Who the hell does she think she is talking to me like that? The blond says to her date. The image is fuzzy but I focus harder and gasp when I recognize who it is since I also listened in on the altercation.
Stacy!
I continue to watch, as she grows angrier while watching Gina and me dancing. She whispers something to the boy she is with and then grabs a fresh glass of champagne from one of the passing waiters walking throughout the crowd. Are you sure about this? She asks her date. I only want her to get a buzz so she can totally embarrass herself and Sam will think she’s too immature for him.
He rolls his eyes as he replies Relax babe. This will make her act wild enough that she might even get kicked out of the club and you’ll get your revenge. This will work so just pour the stuff in the glass and hand it to her.
Stacy takes a vile that is filled with white powder and she starts to pour it into the champagne but she dumps too much of it into the drink. She’s about to protest but her date snatches it from her hand to bring it over to Gina. The image jumps and I then see Gina on the floor passed out while a few people desperately try to save her. Stacy, knowing she put too much of the powder, is panicking as Gina’s life expires. The image jumps a final time and I see me in a murderous rage and I leave my brother’s thoughts just as I see me rushing over to Stacy as I get ready to use my fangs to rip her throat out.
My anger reaches a new level once I comprehend the message from Charlie’s vision. Stacy is going to murder Gina by accident and I will expose us for what we are when I avenge her death.
I didn’t understand why Stacy would do it but I am furious. Is Stacy’s ego that fucking fragile that she will take the one thing that’s most precious away from me? I’m gripping one of the stall doors so hard that I don’t even realize it is bending. Evan comes over to me and says, “Easy Sam. Take it easy.”
I blink and see what I’m doing and immediately let go of the door. He straightens it back to its normal shape. My body is shaking with anger and I can’t contain my rage any longer as I yell, “We can’t let this happen!” With a slight growl I add, “I won’t let this happen.”
“We agree with you Sam and you know we have your back,” Joseph responds calmly.
I ball up my fists as I hiss, “Why would this girl even do this to her? People argue all the time but they eventually get over it. It’s ridiculous that she’s going to get this upset because Gina and she had a disagreement.”
Charlie remains composed as he replies, “Unfortunately there’s only one shitty explanation Sam. There’s nothing worse than a woman scorned.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means her little ego is bruised and you dissed her too many times and Gina called her out on it in front of her friends,” David explains while appearing bored.
Frantically I ask, “Are you certain Charlie this is going to happen?”
“Yes,” he answers gravely. “You know my visions are never wrong. I’m sure while we’re standing here she’s thinking about it not knowing she’s going to accidently kill Gina.”
I totally lose it. I grab a door from one of the stalls and rip it completely off its hinges and hurl it against a wall. Joseph has to quickly move to avoid being hit. I feel my fangs push their way through my gums and I know my eyes have turned a fiery red, which is normal for us when we’re angry. I am about to fly out the bathroom to deal with Stacy myself when David grabs me and slams me against a wall so hard that some of the tiles crack and fall to the floor. I give him a sinister look while I mentally tell Charlie Get him off me now! I am not going to allow Stacy to get anywhere near Gina!
“Easy Sam. You need to calm down. I’m not going to let you go out there and commit bloody murder over this girl,” David says while struggling to keep me still.
I glare at him while I roar, “So you just expect me to stand here and do nothing?”
“Of course we’re not saying that Sam but you can’t go back out to the party in your condition,” Joseph responds with pleading eyes begging me to relax.
My brother walks up to me with a look of concern on his face. “Sam we will deal with this but you need to calm down,” Charlie says. He puts a hand on my shoulder while murmuring, “You go out like that and all you’re going to do is scare Gina.”
The mention of her name makes me cringe and I feel my body slowly begin to relax. He’s right; I can’t let her see me like this or it will frighten her especially since she has no idea that I’m a vampire. I close my eyes squeezing them shut while my rage begins to evaporate. With my eyes still closed, I ask, “What are we going to do then?”
Charlie sighs as he says, “Like I said, we will deal with it.”
“This girl has to be stopped.”
“I know.”
His response was barely above a whisper and our thoughts are completely in sync. No one says it out loud but we know what that entails and none of us are happy about it. I understand when I feed on a human I’m killing that person since I need the blood to survive but to feed for any other reason is wrong. I didn’t like the idea of killing this girl but for Gina, I am willing to live with the guilt for all eternity. I will just add her name to the endless list of people I’ve killed over the last century and a half. For Gina, I will do anything.
Since Gina belongs to me, I know I’m the one that is going to have to get my hands dirty with this task. I’m about to announce that I will do the deed when Joseph softly says, “I’ll take care of it.”
We all look at him in surprise from his statement and I’m ready to question him until an employee from the club enters the restroom. I forgot my little hissy fit might have made a sound or two so it doesn’t surprise me that someone came to investigate the commotion. He surveys the damage and asks sternly, “What the hell is going on in here?”
Even though I’m not as angry, my fangs are still slightly showing. With my back to him, I pull out my wad of cash, count out a thousand dollars and say, “This should help cover some of the damage. Take it, send me a bill with the remaining balance and let us finish our conversation.”
I sense the man looks around at the situation and quickly grabs the money from my hand and runs out. I then look at Joseph who says, “Let me do this Sam. You can keep Gina safe while I take care of the girl. It won’t be a problem for me.”
I didn’t expect that from him and I’m speechless as I stare at his face to be sure that he means what he says. I wasn’t sure how he felt about Gina since in the beginning all of them felt she was a threat to us. But here he is offering to kill another human being for her. I don’t know what to make of his offer even as he stands there giving me a reassuring grin and I carefully say to him, “Joseph you shouldn’t have to do this for her.”
“Why not? Gina belongs to you right? That means we do whatever it takes to protect her.” His smile grows wider as he adds, “You don’t have to say anything Sam. It’ll be done and Gina will live to see another year so no worries.”
“Besides I don’t want my future sister-in-law dead just yet,” Charlie says with a cocky grin.
I groan internally at his statement but I roll my eyes so he can see how annoyed I am. I get he’s going to be looking at visions of our relationship just to make sure I don’t do anything to accidently harm her but now he sees us married? Gee thanks bro. No pressure there.
Joseph steps forward and puts an encouraging look on his face as he says, “Just stay near Gina and keep her totally concentrated on the party and I’ll take care of everything.”
“And I’ll make sure nothing points to us,” Evan adds.
I can’t argue with them because I know this has to be done. I just slightly feel bad that Joseph is going to do this for me but if I disappeared to deal with the girl myself, Gina will notice and start asking questions about where and what I’ve been doing. I can’t have her nosing around because I won’t be able to give her the answers she’ll be looking for and suspicions will be raised for sure. I sigh in resolve as I say, “Alright. I don’t like this but I know there’s nothing else we can do.”
“I know, I hate this too but would you rather we do nothing,” Charlie asks.
An idea comes to mind and I appear helpful as I say, “We could do nothing and I’ll just stay by her side the whole evening. I won’t leave her alone with Stacy for a second.”
“But that will not work Sam and you know it. When have my visions ever been wrong? Especially when a plan has been set, it’s a done deal. If you don’t let Joseph interfere, Gina will die!”
The others remain silent as those words sink into my brain. No way will I mentally survive if something happens to her. Charlie’s vision has already proven that since I’ll try to murder Stacy and every other human in the club as my way of grieving for Gina. I solemnly nod my head and Joseph pats me on the back while softly saying, “Don’t let anyone see me leave with her.”
“Don’t worry, all eyes will be on me,” Charlie replies with a wink.
We all nod and casually file out of the restroom. I quickly remember that I didn’t check to see if I look normal again but Charlie mentally says Relax, you are totally calm so you look like a common boring human again.
I light-heartily roll my eyes as I mentally reply back Gee thanks brother and smile when I see Gina walking towards me.
“Is everything okay? We heard a ruckus in there,” she asks with concern.
I give her my biggest smile and answer, “Everything is fine.”
“It was weird. Someone got the owner to go check it out and when he exited, he looked like he was gonna piss his pants.”
Ah yes this is why Joseph has to be the one to handle Stacy because Gina misses nothing. The curiosity is written all over her face and I can feel the barrage of questions starting up any minute now. To steer her off the subject I give her a smile as I respond, “It was just us roughhousing and things got a little out of hand. The owner was just shocked that I immediately gave him the money for the damage.”
Her eyes grow wide and Gina is prepared to ask more questions when Charlie cuts in. He grabs her hand and puts on his charm as he murmurs; “I know you’re not going to break my heart and not dance with me right? I would be scarred for life if you deny me this request.”
Just like that Gina forgets about what we must have been doing in the restroom. She grins at my brother as she asks, “Does that line of crap really work on women or did you make that up just for me?”
David and I have a hard time stifling our laugh. Unfazed by her remark, Charlie just winks at her and in a velvety voice he responds, “It always works like a charm every time. But on you I really mean it this time.”
My brother, Mr. Cool.
She just laughs as they head to the dance floor with me and David following. I mentally scan around the room and nobody has noticed that Evan has already disappeared from the club. I scan for Joseph and find him heading in Stacy’s direction. Thinking about it now, he is the right choice for this since the young women today can’t help being attracted to him. It benefits that Joseph still appears to be young (he was created as a vampire at the age of seventeen) and he knows how to play it cool and blend in like an average teenager. They love his long shoulder length shaggy hair and his James Dean smile and his laid back attitude where that comes from being a child of the sixties. Personally, he reminds me of a young Dave Grohl, the lead singer from the Foo Fighters.
He approaches Stacy who is talking to two young women and taps her on the shoulder while saying, “Hello.”
I keep listening in as she smiles seductively and responds, “Hi.”
Damn with one word he already has her hooked. This girl will take attention any way she can get it I conclude and I slightly shake my head. She gets rid of her friends and they exchange pleasantries and she is responding to his seductive flirting and his body language so hard that I almost look away and gag. Does nothing turn this girl off?
Finally Joseph goes in for the sinker. He gives her his sexist smile and murmurs, “You wanna ditch your date and this party to go somewhere a little more private with me?”
I can’t help but smile with pride at how well he’s handling this. He uses the key word; ditch. Plus he’s also giving her the choice without using his influence to force her to follow him. And Stacy doesn’t disappoint as she nods and without saying another word he just casually strolls out one of the side doors alone but I know he will wait for her outside. The bait has been set and sure enough Stacy glances around to make sure no one sees her and she slips out through the same door. I hear David quietly laugh and his thought states how he wishes he was the one that was going to feed on the girl. I roll my eyes as my thoughts follow Joseph but he is already far away and she is with him. I know I don’t want to watch him while the deed is being done so I look away. If I continued to watch it would tempt me to go out and join him.
It is getting close to midnight and while I am enjoying my time with Gina (and grateful that she wasn’t dying tonight), I’m still scanning the party for Joseph. I’m a little concerned that he hasn’t returned by now and I want to be sure that everything went off according to plan and if Evan handled the cover up. I even start to worry that something has gone wrong or if Stacy gotten away from them and is running off somewhere screaming out that vampires are after her. But as if he sensed I was waiting for him, Joseph walks pass me with a nod to let me know that the deed is done and he shows me everything that had happened from his memory.
Joseph had led Stacy a good distance away from the club into the woods that are behind the club. Normally no one in their right mind would follow any one of us in the woods at night but with our gift of influence, we can make a human do anything we desire. And I know exactly why Joseph is out there with Stacy under a heavy influence. He used it to get her to walk with him so no one would hear her scream when he’s ready to bite her. When Joseph hunts, he likes the chase and it’s even better for him when the human shows a little fear as they try to hold onto their last ounce of hope of surviving. That really gets his venom going and with Stacy, he wanted to make her suffer a little before going in for the kill. I know a lot of people won’t believe it based on his appearance but for a seventeen year old, Joseph can be a scary and dangerous monster.
We didn’t realize she had already started to put her plan in motion because she was carrying the tainted glass in her hand. When they finally reached where he wanted them to be, he released her from the trance and gives her a moment to gather her bearings while he sized her up. After a few seconds, she looked around trying to figure out where she was and asked, “Wow how far did we walk? I don’t even remember the trip out here.”
