Point one five rules und.., p.15
Point One Five (Rules Undying Book 4), page 15
“I was hoping you’d say that. Let me find out where the party is tonight.”
“Party?”
“You haven’t seen the flyers at that awful Tex-Mex place? There have been roaming raves all around town – every Friday and Saturday for the summer.”
“You want to go to a rave?” she asked incredulously. She looked down at her vintage inspired dress and sandals. “I’m not sure we are dressed for glow sticks and god knows what else.”
“They call it a rave, but it’s a mix of people. Don’t worry so much, mi amor. With legs and tits like yours, no one cares what you wear there. I, on the other hand, will need to change. Drop me off at the edge of UT. I’ll meet you at this address,” he said while blatantly fondling her phone. “You really should use a password, you know.”
“Hey! You’re lucky you’re adorable, or I’d smack you for that. So now I’m sneaking you out to go to a traveling dance party.”
“Last time was a pool party. Oh, this week it is a speakeasy theme, so you dressed perfectly!”
“This is so insane,” Gail said with a smile. Her GPS started ordering her towards the highway. “But I haven’t done anything crazy in ages, so let’s go!”
Once they were safely lost in the mess of Friday night traffic, Javier dared slide up in his seat. He stared at the mix of signs along the road and the glare of all the lights. “The worst thing I ever did really had nothing to do with my family, you know.”
“Oh?”
“Sí. Did I tell you about my friend yet, the one who helped me get to America?”
“No, I haven’t heard about any of your friends.”
“That’s because I don’t have very many,” he said with a laugh. “I did have one for a very long time. He was like a brother to me. An obnoxious older brother who always had to be perfect while I was the clown. You know the type, no?”
“I never had an obnoxious older brother, but I had a cousin who thought the world revolved around him. Was your friend a gangster, too?”
“Oh no, never. He was, how do you put it, ex-military, but not the normal kind. He was the kind you never talked about. He was only happy if he could find some lost cause to muck about in. We liked to travel together when we were younger. I could tell you some amazing stories about Peru. He needed me because both his Español and Quechuan are shit, and I needed him because he was loaded and hysterical when borracho, err when drunk.”
“You’ve been to Peru?” Gail asked while she fought to get to the exit lane.
“Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, all sorts of places. I even got to go back to España thanks to him. He’d go in cycles. For a few years it was all business, then he’d get a vacation and we would have fun. We always looked out for each other, but the last time we were supposed to go I told him I couldn’t, and he got into big trouble. Very big trouble.”
“And that’s the worst thing that you’ve ever done? Abandon your friend when he needed you?”
“No, I slept with his wife.”
Gail nearly bumped into the truck hogging the exit. “Excuse me?”
“It was a very long time ago. She means nothing to me now, but I wanted to be honest.”
“You slept with your best friend’s wife?”
“To be fair, many people have. I am probably one of the only ones who regrets it, though. It was a stupid mistake.”
“Did he find out?”
“No, don’t think so.”
“Are you going to tell him?”
“It would seem in rather poor taste right now. He just had a very nasty divorce, I heard. That and it turns out that he lied to me for years, too, so I suppose it is even.”
“His lies were the same as your sleeping with his wife? Where at UT do you want me to drop you off?”
“Just up ahead is fine, and sí, his lies were worse. He was not the man he appeared to be. It turns out he helped the very same people who took my leg. He likes to work with monsters.”
“Oh,” Gail muttered as she pulled up to the curb. “That sounds complicated.”
“Sí,” He sighed. “Now, I am just going to grab a few things and I’ll meet you there. Just follow the magic voice and I will meet you at the bar closest to the door.”
“No more surprises tonight, please,” she begged as he walked away.
He tipped his cap to her. “I cannot promise you that, mi amor, but I will try to make sure all the rest are pleasant ones.”
Gail started following her GPS to a rather scary row of warehouses. Her anxiety heightened as she saw the rows upon rows of vehicles all vying for parking along the street and in the few lots. Packs of twenty-somethings headed towards the most decrepit looking of all the lot – an aluminum and concrete monolith that pulsed with music loud enough to be heard on the street.
“Please, Parking Fairy, if ever there was a time for you to be real,” Gail muttered as she went for a side street. It only took two more loops and some prayers to find a spot just barely wide enough to squeeze into. A few onlookers paused to watch the wonder of a seasoned Boston girl shove a Corolla into a tiny space.
“Suck that, suburbanites!” Gail cried as she ended up a perfect twelve inches from the curb. She stuffed her ID, keys, and cash into her bra and shoved her purse all the way under the seat before joining the procession of people looking for a good time on a Friday night.
Most of the girls seemed content to be in halter tops and tiny skirts. Gail stared at her flat sandals wading among a sea of heels. “Why didn’t I stick a Xanax in my tits?” she muttered. “Now to find the bar closest to the door.”
She shuffled with the crowd until she found herself face to chest with the bouncer. “Password?” he asked.
“Um . . .”
“Password?”
The girl next to her gave her a nudge. “Clarence sent me,” she hissed.
“Steve sent me,” Gail blurted out. “Err, Clarence sent me!”
“Go on in. The cover is ten bucks.”
Gail soon found herself in a crush of gyrating people, all jockeying for prime positions in the warehouse. Lights had been tied to every beam and catwalk, filling the place with a harsh glow while a misting machine and fans made it look like everyone was moving through clouds. The speakeasy theme seemed to only include the drink menu and a few try-hards who had fringe hot-glued to their bralettes.
Gail made a beeline for the nearest bar and tucked herself against the wall with a clear view of the entrance. She smacked her palm against her forehead as she realized that her phone was still in her car. She tapped her toe along with the thumping beat as she kept on the lookout for her date. “Hope no one needs to reach me,” she muttered in time with the music.
Two songs later and she ordered an Old Fashioned to pass the time. Just as she was dropping her orange slice into her beverage, a flash of green and black caught her attention. She nearly choked on her bourbon as she saw circuitry tattoo up one arm, the white dots on it glowing in the blacklight.
“You have to be shitting me,” she said as Rikuto Nakano ordered a drink only a few feet from her. She ducked behind a pack of frat boys, just peeking past the gun show to watch Rikuto start to slip away.
Her human shield finally noticed her and gave her an inebriated smile. She smiled back weakly before sliding around him and following her prey into the wilds of the dance floor. The thumping beats mixed with a song more at home in the big band era. She tried her best to shuffle, nod, and generally blend into the swaying crowd.
A hulking figure moved to block her way. Her eyes widened. She smacked into a sweaty mountain of sheer bulk as the remains of her drink splattered on the floor.
“Foster!”
“Williams!” she cried back as she recognized a pair of dark eyes and apple cheeks surrounded by a wild mass of hair. She stammered out a rapid-fire, “What . . . ? What are you . . . ? Where are your glasses?”
“Come with me!” her former coworker snapped, as he dragged her into a misty, shadowy corner of the warehouse. Here, hidden by pipes and other tangled metal fixtures, a strange trio of young men lounged in a banquette. Gail’s head swirled as she saw Rikuto rolling a beer between his fingertips. She focused in on the light reflecting off his tattoo.
“You know how life can be really funny sometimes? You sometimes find yourself in a situation so utterly ridiculous that you know somehow that once you accept it, that anything is possible?”
“Oh my god,” Gail whispered.
“Nandayo!” Rikuto snapped as Gail nearly stumbled into his lap. “Tommy boy, what is she doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” Gail snapped right back as she steadied herself. She gulped as one of the strangers turned his attention her way.
This man instantly commanded her attention as he stretched his arms to show off just how many muscles could pop under a pristine white T-shirt. His dark eyes bored into her while he cracked his knuckles loud enough to be heard over the music. Gail took an instinctive step back even as she gawked at the sheer perfection of his face.
“Bro, reign it in,” the third of the triumvirate warned. This guy appeared to be right off the reservation, with a long braid and rusty skin. “Reign . . . it . . . in.”
“Sit,” the hot one commanded. Gail immediately perched on the edge of the booth as if she was a golden retriever with a treat in sight.
“There are a lot of people looking for you, both of you,” Gail blurted while alternating pointing between Williams and Dr. Nakano the younger. “You . . . worked together?”
“Of all the gin joints in all the world.” Rikuto sighed. “You had to walk into ours. Either you have the worst damn luck in the universe or—”
Williams, the hot guy, and his brother all sniffed the air. A chill soaked into Gail as she shivered under the weight of all their gazes. She audibly gulped.
“Look, Sam, Billy, Foster is a sweetheart—” Williams started to say. He placed himself between Gail and the hot guy. Gail gasped as the hot one leaped to his feet and backhanded Williams with enough force to send him right to the concrete.
“Tom!” Gail cried. She tried to jump up as well but the long-haired guy was simply too fast. He put his hands on her shoulders and held her down with surprising strength.
“Now listen, I don’t want to hurt you,” the stranger whispered in her ear.
“But my brother can snap your pretty little neck before you can scream,” the hot guy growled. “Are we clear?”
Gail nodded. She gave a quick side-eyed glance to the hands on her shoulders. “You have something wrong with your nails,” she choked out as she saw a black line emerging from his nailbed.
“Sam, please!” Williams said as he slowly pushed up from the floor. Gail gasped at the blood trickling from his split lip.
“Is this a challenge?” Sam asked as he slowly rolled to his feet. Although not nearly as tall and broad as Williams, Sam sent him stumbling back with a single sneer. Sam snorted. “I guess not.”
Gail’s breath became shallower and faster as Sam turned her way again. With every step he took, her heart raced. She felt pinpricks in her shoulders as the black line in her captor’s nails seemed to extend into claws.
“Oh . . . shit,” she gasped. “That is not normal.”
“Please,” Williams begged. “She’s nice—”
“She’s one of their toys,” Sam growled. “You can smell the stink all over her.”
“Excuse me?” Gail snapped.
Sam leaned so close that she could get a whiff of bourbon in his breath. She recoiled as best she could. The guy holding her tightened his grip. From this distance, she could also see just how abnormally big and dark his irises had become. They seemed to expand moment by moment until she couldn’t make out any trace of white in his eyes.
“You should be excused,” Sam growled. “Waltzing in here, stinking of vampire cum.”
“Vampires aren’t real,” she immediately replied.
Williams whirled around and gave her a pleading look. “Foster, you need to get out of this place. They’ve already got their hands on you—”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed. Oof! You’re hurting me. I thought you didn’t want that,” she snapped as the hands clamped down on her. “What kind of nonsense are you guys—?”
Sammy narrowed his eyes at her. “You really have no idea, do you?”
Gail stared right back at him. “Vampires are not real,” she said slowly. “What kind of drugged-up shit is this?”
“Sam, Bro—” Billy started to say.
“You know what we need, Billy. We need some sort of leverage to find out what these bloodsuckers did to the others. I say we use her,” Sam growled.
Rikuto finally hopped into the fray. “Are you kidding?” he asked. “Sam, her brain has clearly been scrambled by one of their technicians. They may just kill her if we try to use her as blackmail!”
“We have to do what we can. Kyle, Morgan, and Paige are all—”
“You may have lost a boyfriend, but I lost a goddamned brother,” Rikuto snapped. “Don’t you think I want to find out what happened, too . . . but we aren’t the monsters, remember?”
Rikuto put his hand on Sam’s arm. “We aren’t monsters. They just think we are,” he said. “Let me talk to her.”
Sam shrugged off Rikuto’s gesture, but he stomped back to his seat and waved his hand dismissively. Rikuto rolled his eyes as Sam sulked.
“He’s really a big puppy, I swear.” Rikuto sighed as he crouched down to be level with the shaking Gail. “If you haven’t guessed already, there is a great deal going on that no one wants normal folks to see, but I get the impression that you aren’t normal anymore.”
“I need to call my doctor,” Gail whimpered. “This isn’t really happening. This is some sort of breakdown, or I’m having delusions.”
“Oh boy, they have worked on you. Miss Foster, you do remember me, don’t you? You work for my mom, right? You worked with Tom over here, too, right?”
Gail nodded while the tears started to well in her eyes. “Of course. I remember both of you, but . . .”
Rikuto waved his hand. “Billy, give the girl a little space,” he said. He turned back to Gail. “Listen, a year ago I would have died before telling any of my family’s secrets, but now, well, now I really don’t give a flying fuck what my family thinks. They can’t touch me anymore, and if you can just take a deep breath and listen, then I think you’ll get all the answers you’ve been waiting for. You want that?”
Billy loosened his grip and the claws slid back under his nails. Gail took a deep breath. “My boyfriend is gonna come looking for me,” she warned.
“Is that the vampire?” Rikuto asked.
“Vampires are not real!” Gail barked. “Why would you even—?”
Rikuto rolled his eyes. “You keep saying that, but you don’t really believe it. In fact, I am pretty sure you know the whole truth deep down, but those creatures they have a method of working over your mind. It’s brainwashing, Miss Foster. Your name, it isn’t even Foster, right?”
“What . . . what are you even talking about?” Gail stammered. “Just let me go.”
“You want to call your doctor, don’t you? You want to tell her right now exactly what you’ve heard, because that is the bell they have you ringing. I need you to listen to me and stop repeating the damn mantra in your head, cause guess what, Gail? Vampires are very, very real.”
“Believe it,” Sam growled as he flicked his own pair of black claws out from under his nails.
Billy slapped his hand over Gail’s mouth just as she started to scream. Rikuto scrambled to pop a tab into his beer bottle. He then shoved the glass into Gail’s mouth, tipping her head back with a jerk. She gurgled and gagged until she had to gulp down the flat, metallic-tasting dregs of his drink.
“It’s just going to help you relax, Gail,” Rikuto said in a strangely calm, almost robotic voice. “I just need you to stay calm so we can talk. That’s all. It’s just going take about ten little minutes and you are going to feel amazing, OK, Gail?”
“This is not cool,” she whimpered as the guys boxed her in the booth, a hand now firmly planted on her spine. “What do you want from me?”
“Step one: no screaming,” Rikuto said. “Step two: a little Q and A.”
“What is he?” she asked, pointing limply at the sneering hot guy.
“He’s evolution,” Rikuto answered flatly. “He’s the future of mankind if we are backed into a corner anymore. Sam and Billy here are . . . protectors, if you will.”
“Then why don’t I feel safe?” Gail squeaked.
“You’re scared because you don’t know what is happening yet. Just try to focus on what you know. You know Tom. He’s the same big cuddly bear who tried to sneak pictures of you in the dressing room. He’s harmless.”
“He’s a corporate spy,” Gail snapped.
“I am not a spy!” Williams piped up. “I ran for my life. Foster, Biogenesys Labs is not what it appears to be. It’s running experiments on people.”
“Of course it runs experiments! It’s a fucking lab, Williams. We do clinical trials all the time—”
“No, not the trials. We are the lab rats, Foster,” Williams hissed as sweat dripped from his forehead. Gail gasped as she watched his beard lengthen as he spoke. “They collected all of us to watch, to observe. Don’t you see? They were always watching us. You’re just another experiment, Foster. You don’t even remember all the times they took your blood, but I do. I kept my mouth shut for months because I thought I needed this job more than anything, but I finally couldn’t shut up anymore, not after they brought in the body.”
“Williams, what are you talking about? What the hell are you talking about?” she said as she still smacked her lips at the terrible taste in her mouth. “What body?”
“There is a body upstairs, but it’s all cut up. I got Vinay to spoof my access to the lab upstairs in exchange for getting him a Reigns of the Grove Warden before they took it out of the game. I used to just poke around up there because there was crazy, dangerous shit and it was cool, but they brought in the fucking mummy a few weeks ago and it was game over for me. They have viruses frozen up there that I don’t even think the CDC knows about—”
