Suburban Vampire Ragnarok

Chapter 40

Scott was still asleep at that time in the morning, and had planned on sleeping in. Since he didn't have to be at work that afternoon, sleeping in for him meant waking well after noon. That was his goal, regardless of the fact that the world could very well end sometime that week and he knew it. However, he also knew that his options were limited, and that without further information he could very easily end up making things worse. He knew Jeremiah might be of immense help but Scott was, quite simply, afraid to approach the ancient vampire. He respected Jeremiah, but also had a healthy fear of the undead African warrior. Was this fear worth jeopardizing the safety of the world, though? Scott wrestled with the idea, but after thinking about it for too short a time he decided to sleep in after all.

Scott's indecision and apathy were interrupted by a call on his cell phone. The call came from an "unknown" number. He knew nothing good could come from such a call. It never had before.

"Yello?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," the familiar female voice responded, "did I wake you up? Is this a bad time?"

"Natasha."

"You remembered! How sweet."

Scott was now fully awake. Why had this lying, thieving vampire called him? Scott thought that she better not be trying to use him again, because he was all done with that.

"Yeah, I remember, the Natasha who lied to me and stole from me. Right?"

"Now, now, Scott, I only did what I was paid to do. But I'll tell you what! I'll let you have your precious box back. Yeah, all you need to do is show up at Hibbert's Corner after dark tonight. You'll need to take the night off from that stupid job of yours, but I think you'll be able to swing that, what with your old boss no longer in the picture."

How did she know that? "Yeah, I'm sure you'll just give me that box back, unmolested. Right."

"I swear, Scotty!"

"Natasha, how stupid do you think I am? Don't answer that. But how the hell can I trust you again? You have the following strikes against you. One, you lied to me. Two, you stole from me. And three, you're a vampire. That's three strikes."

"Glad we're not playing baseball here. But Scott, it will be worth your while."

"I dunno. Something about this just screams 'trap' to me. No, Natasha, I'll pass."

"All right, if that's how you want to play. I am going to hang up now, and try contacting you through Skype. I have something I want to show you."

Scott played along and answered the Skype call. Natasha's pretty, smiling face was there, calling from a forested location. She was standing next to a limousine. Scott had almost forgotten how pretty she was, and now he was reminded.

"Hi, Scott! You look... well, you look. Anyway, like I said, I have something to show you. Something that might motivate you to come on down to Hibbert's Corner."

Natasha opened the door of the limo and showed Scott what looked like a human body. As she drew closer, he realized it was the body of Zed Mitsubishi.

"Oh my God, you killed him, didn't you? You killed my friend!" Just then, Zed started snoring, quite loudly. "Wow," Scott said, "that kid can snore!"

"Tell me about it. I had to put up with that most of the way down here."

"So, what are you doing with Zed? He's just an IT service tech."