Blood for Blood

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, and I know that I promised to introduce a new bunch of characters in this chapter, but the unexpected busyness of today prevented me from doing so. But they'll be in the new chapter for sure. As usual, all the songs and characters in this chapter, with the exception of Adam and Ileana do not belong to me, but to themselves.

On Adam's insistence, Ileana stayed at his apartment until the both of them were confident that she could go back to her place.He even offered to take an extra look at the traps she set up. At the moment, she was curled up on his couch while Adam was in the kitchen looking for an extra cup to pour some water in. From where he stood, he spoke.

"Are you sure it's not one of your idiot co workers messing with you?" Ileana shook her head exhaling a deep sigh for what felt like the umpteenth time that night.

"I don't work with any other creatures. It's just me. And even if it was, I would have smelled them a mile away and taken care of them no problem. And in any case, Andy's scent is difficult to track. Probably because he's too busy dousing himself in everyone else's with all the blood he consumes. That's why in our first meeting, I didn't detect his scent, but the one of the corpse he was feasting on". She explained. Adam came over to where she sat and plopped down next to her, glass of water in hand. She took it and downed the clear liquid as if it were her last. Her countenance was nothing short of fearful and far away as her mind conjured up a vast array of what if scenarios that could happen if she and Andy ever crossed paths, since there was now a possibility that one of his band members was around her brother. Adam appeared to read her mind and partially placed an arm around her.

"Hey, if it makes you feel better, I'll take a few days off from work and ask around about Feldmann. If there is a possibility that he's in Andy's friend circle, then someone's bound to have seen them together. Human or creature. Maybe around the Sinkhole somewhere". He explained. But Ileana seemed less than convinced.

"The Sinkhole is the last place you should be poking around. What if another one of Andy's band members is poking around? Especially Ashley Purdy. I don't know if you know this, but he and Andy are as thick as thieves. He tells Andy practically everything". She explained. Adam looked around the interior of his apartment, in deep thought. In a straight up confrontation, he knew that he had no chance of winning against a vampire like Andy. The first time was just sheer dumb luck and Andy didn't attempt to fight back. But if he's as ruthless and gluttonous as his reputation precedes him to be, there's no telling how strong he really is. Whatsmore, if he does have friends to back him up, then it could spell trouble for both him and Ileana. Ileana had the same train of thought and let another stream of tears flow down her cheeks. All the time that she spent dodging shadows and convincing herself that she was ready to move on with her life was starting to feel like nothing more than a pipe dream; one that was going to burst without a moment's notice and spill it's vile contents everywhere. And she was right in the center of the spray.

Adam saw his sister's distress and wiped up her tears with the pad of his thumb. Then in a wryly attempt at humor, spread the remnants of them across her cheeks trying to create a smile. Try as she might, Ileana couldn't help but burst out chuckling, and eventually laughing. But all too quickly did the conversation turn serious as Adam dropped the tone in his voice and spoke with all of the passion and conviction that he could conjure.

"I don't care how many friends he has in his corner. Andy's not laying a single fang into you. And if he does, I'll be there to rip them both out". He said.

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The call that came to Andy's phone only only added onto his maddening joy that he felt after John agreed to help him. After dumping the bodies that night, he and John went their separate ways and agreed to keep in contact about anything regarding Adam. As of now, Andy was typing away at his laptop, with one tab looking over Ileana's bank details , and another typing up lyrics for a song called "Break your Halo" ,when his phone lit up in response to an incoming call. It was Ashley with his news from Jake's friends.

"Yes?"

"You're in luck. They said sure. It's worth mentioning that I used your name and when I did they said yes faster than a dog to a Beggin' Bacon Strip. Hold on, I'm gonna let Jake talk for a bit". It didn't take long for the phone to be handed over and the voice on the other line change.

"Hey is this Andy Black?"

"Yeah. Is this Jake Pitts?"

"Yeah man. Ashley talks about you all the time. You probably didn't see me, but I've been to a few of your shows at the Sinkhole. And I've gotta say, your set delivers nothing but the best, dude. What real rock should be. One vamp to another, you're awesome, Andy. My friends think so too. They're happy to help anyway they can". He explained. To this, Andy merely took another drag of his cigarette before dousing it a nearby ashtray. Compliments like that came to Andy almost as often as the blood he consumes. Sometime they went hand in hand. But Andy merely closed his laptop, leaned back in his chair and leant his ear to Jake.

"Thanks, dude. Compliments like that are the reason I'm able to do what I do. So how do your friends want to set this up?" Asked Andy.

"They want to meet up first thing tomorrow night. Do you have a place that we can all meet and greet?" Asked Jake.

"Yeah. There's a run down apartment complex next to the Best Western on the corner of Delancey Street and Merrick Boulevard. Do you know where that is?" There was a brief murmur of voices in the background before Jake's voice came back on.

"Yeah. We'll be there. We can all get acquainted and talk business. See you tomorrow night then". With that the phone hung up with a resounding click and Andy tossed his on the bed before going back to reading. Everything looked good as far as he could tell, so for the time being, he closed his laptop, got up from his seated position and went to pour himself a stiff glass of O Negative that he had stored in his fridge. Eventually the silence of the room was becoming a nuisance and Andy grabbed for the remote to turn on his stereo letting the first song play, with no regard to what it would be.

A/N: Anyone want to take a wild guess at what the song might be?