Pro-Tip for Vampires #111: there are different types of vampires, and all of them are blood-sucking bastards.
My return to the Hall of the Drunken King didn't go quite as I expected. I was already focused on the stairs that lead to where the real power resided, and completely ignored the small cluster of people and vampires hanging out in the downstairs foyer.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" King appeared from out of nowhere, grabbing my arm and startling the hell out of me. I didn't stop walking though, and so he fell into step next to me, looking around futtively. "Harry is going to murder you if he sees you! Wait, which you am I talking to here?"
"Mostly me," I shrugged as we made our way up the stairs, King struggling to keep up.
Two older vampires stepped aside when they saw me coming, throwing cautious looks as if I was about to explode at any moment. I smiled, enjoying the moment.
I continued. "Ibrahaim and I came to an arrangement."
"You really shouldn't be here—"
I whirled on him, and Ibrahaim surged to the front of my mind, forceful and commanding. My fangs snapped into place and with it came that spike of adrenaline. King took a step backward, fear in his eyes.
What the fuck dude? I snapped at Ibrahaim, and felt him pull back a little. I struggled to regain my composure and bad attitude.
"Maybe you're the one who shouldn't be here," I hissed.
King held up his hands in surrender, and backed away down the steps. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but I didn't give him the chance. I turned away a little too dramatically, feeling like I was in one of those fucked up telenovelas that my mom loved so much. That's how unreal the entire situation suddenly felt, and it was throwing me off in a huge way. My legs suddenly felt like I was walking on stilts made of spaghetti as I made my way up the stairs.
I recognized Julie even from behind, the back of her head instantly familiar, even before I took in her height and the rest of her remarkable body, in that slinky black dress that was going to look great on her bedroom floor.
That restored my shaken confidence, knowing that I would have at least one person glad to see me. What I really should have been paying attention to was the faces of the three other girls she was talking to. Those girls all saw me at pretty much the same time, and their faces went white with what I recognize now as fear. That's hindsight talking and like Dave Mustaine says, that's always 20-20, but looking back is still a bit fuzzy.
So wilfully unaware idiot that I was, I reached out and caressed Julie's shoulder. She jerked away, startled, almost as if she expected to be hit, and then turned to face me.
"What the fuck do you want?" She snarled.
I noticed the fading bruise that covered most of the right side of her beautiful face. The purplish bruise went from her eye, down her cheek and to her neck. It was as if she had been bitten badly on the neck, but hadn't healed properly. This was odd since the enzymes in vampire saliva encouraged fast healing in humans.
"Who did that to you?" I spat, the rage building inside. Someone had hurt my friend and they were going to pay—
"You did this to me, you fucking moron!" Julie screamed, and I stepped back, horrifed denial and guilt.
Oh shit. Ohshitohshitohshit.
I thought she looked familiar, Ibrahaim admitted.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry Julie—"
"Stay the fuck away from me, you asshole!" Julie spat and looked around urgently. "SECURITY!"
This was definitely not what I had planned and it was all going wrong so quickly. People in the bar were turning to look at me now as Julie scremed for help, and there was that uncomfortable feeling that I had fucked up way more than I had even suspected. What the fuck had Ibrahaim been doing?
"Oh come on," I protested, but it was already too late.
One large hand clamped down on my shoulder, and I closed my eyes as I turned around, knowing what was coming next.
Is it my turn yet? Ibrahaim slimed his way into my mind.
Fuck you, no! I responded. I got this!
The two security guards, Lurch and the Other One (whose name I couldn't be bothered to learn). They both sneered and flexed their muscles in their suits, giving the impression that a long awaited beating was about to be delivered, specifically to me.
***
Five minutes later I was shoved into an uncomfortably large leather chair, and left to face Harry. The sour look on his face indicated his absolute displeasure at having to deal with me yet again.
I really knew I was in trouble when Harry slowly unwrapped a piece of gum, ever so delicately.
Just so you know, there is never any situation that can be termed as "good" when you have a dangerous guy like Harry sitting alone in a room with a guy like me. When said dangerous guy is about to eat something, somebody is getting hurt. I was actually glad it wasn't an apple because according to movie rules that would mean I was about to be a dead man.
"There's a saying my da was always proud of trotting out whenever he wanted to be a complete ass," Harry said after a long moment. "I don't remember every much about my da you see, because it's been such a very long time, but this one thing always stuck with me over the decades and then the centuries. 'If you give a man enough rope, he will eventually hang himself.'" Harry paused to look at me, the gum unwrapped, letting the weight of that statement sink in properly. He continued after a moment. "I always hated when he said it, but it's been proven to be true time and time again. I meet someone new, I give them the benefit of the doubt and wait to see how long before they fuck it up."
Harry popped the gum into his mouth now and chewed very deliberately, intent on letting me know that it was me who had fucked up, and heavily implying that he had given me as much rope as he was willing to give.
"How did you get Ibrahaim to agree to..." Harry gestured vaguely, "whatever this is?"
"I don't know what—"
"Cut the shit Bobby! We know Ibrahaim has transferred himself to you. It was the plan, except it was supposed to be Sebastien, but you had to go and fuck that up."
"Sebastien had it coming!"
"You just wasted ten fucking years of planning! Ten years! He was a bit of an psychopath, yes, but he was a good kid at heart."
"He killed me!" I yelled. "Twice! I regret nothing. Not a goddamn thing." I thought for a moment and then grinned. "It must suck for you though, not being able to kill me." I leaned forward.. "I think you might even be scared of me at this point."
"It's not you I'm scared of," Harry mused as he leaned closer. "But I don't think you really know what you've agreed to. In fact, you only think you can control our friend Ibrahaim, but you can't. I can feel him inside your head you know, and he's just waiting for his moment, waiting to be unleashed and then... I don't think you're ever going to be in control again Bobby."
Don't listen to him.
"He's going to teach me to be a better vampire," I protested.
"If that's what you want to believe," Harry sat back and pushed a button on his desk. I heard the door behind me open, and braced myself for what was coming.
"Escort Bobby to the alley," Harry instructed.
The two mean grabbed me before I could react and dragged me off the chair, my legs kicking uselessly in the air.
What about now? Ibrahaim snarled.
No! I got this!
I don't think you know what that means!
"Oh and boys?" Harry said offhandedly. "Take his fangs."
***
We emerged into the bar, and I caught a glimpse of Julie and her friends at one of the tables, obviously interested in what was happening to me. I felt a surge of annnoyance and then anger at Ibrahaim for whatever he had done to Julie. However, there was still that matter of Harry's instruction to pull my fangs.
"Hey, guys, tell me Harry was kidding about the fangs?"
Lurch smirked and shoved me to keep moving. "Don't embarrass yourself buddy. Let's just get this over with."
Embarrass myself? Dude clearly had no idea who he was dealing with.
"So fellas. Any chance I can get a running start?"
"Are you kidd—hey! Get back here!"
I was faster than I had expected and a lot more difficult to catch than they expected. As far as I was concerned, I was running for my life and I was good at running, so believe me, I was slippery as fuck. I had some vague idea that all I had to do was make it out of the club onto the streets and that I would be safe there, like it was some fucked up game of tag or something. I just knew that getting caught in the club was going to end very badly for me.
I almost made it you know.
Almost.
The crowd parted easily for me and I slammed through the backdoors, intending to jump over the railing and onto the dancefloor below before making it out the back and into the alley. I didn;t quite make it that far. I slammed through the doors and it was like the entire world went into slow motion as terror, utter pants-shitting terror, grabbed hold of me and made me its bitch.
The Gentlemen walked towards me like a long forgotten nightmare.
***
When they come for you, it is always a nightmare.
It's the kind of nightmare that lurks in the corners of your mind, so that even when you're awake, it's always there with you, teasing and swearing at you, reminding you that you're weak and that you're going to die.
Mr. Flynn leads the way out of the elevator, his long black coat flaring out behind him with the appropriate sense of drama, his eyes deep and intently focused. Is he surprised to see me or is that sheer delight in the pain that he is about to bring on me?
Mr. Bryce and Mr. Sinnel are directly behind him of course, flanking Mr. Flynn to the left and to the right, like the world's most terrifying middle-aged boy-band. The Hackstreet Boys. Boys to Murderers. Fuck Your Life. That sort of thing.
These are the panicked thoughts that fly through my skull in the space of a millisecond, the ramblings of a mind about to be stricken by terror and the blind panic that comes with it.
And there is Ibraham, watching, waiting. Laughing.
My body reacts first, its self-preservation mode taking over completely and forcing me to a complete skidding stop, my feet flying up from under me, my body crashing to the ground and my feet desperately trying to run the other way, trying and failing to tell gravity to go fuck itself.
I'm somehow moving backwards and it is like swimming in invisible maple syrup, I seem to be moving so slow. And all the while I'm unable to look away from the Gentlemen and their implacable, unstoppable advance. I know for certain that there is no escape and that I'm about to die and there is nothing I can do about it--
"Mister Diego," Mr. Flynn says. "Finally."
"We sure that's just him?" Mr. Bryce rumbles, and is he actually hesitant? Maybe a little scared? I do think he is.
Okay! I scream at Ibrahaim. I don't got this at all! Your turn!
Are you certain?
Yes! Just don't kill anybody!
There is a surge of power in my mucle and all at once I am calm as Ibrahaim takes over, but not completely, just enough to guide me. All at once, it's like I know how to do things, secrets are opened to me and I almost gasp at the sheer potential, the power that Ibrahaim has at his command.
Mr. Flynn seems to sense that something is different. Maybe it is the look in my eyes, or the fact that I've stopped trying to run. Whatever it is, the rat-bastard knows that something is up and takes a step back, uncertainty on his face.
For some reason, I picture bats in my mind, an impossible hoard of flying inky blackness, and then I throw my arms back and feel myself explode—
***
No.
Stop it.
I did not explode into bats. It's literally fucking impossible, so stop thinking that's what happened. It's just what it felt like, and judging by the reaction from all three of the Gentlemen, it was as if they had been engulfed by that impossible explosion of bats that only they could see. They retreated into the elevator, crouching and covering their faces as if they were under attack, Mr. Bryce desperately stabbing at the inside buttons with his huge finger.
The elevator doors finally slid shut and there was absolute silence for a long moment as I revelled in the moment. Okay, maybe not absolute silence, considering that we were in the back of a nightclub with loud music reverbreating through the wals, but considering the chaos of the past few seconds, it was really fucking peaceful.
"What the fuck was just happened?" Lurch whispered, and I realized the two bouncers were still standing behind me.
"That was a lot of bats just then," the Other One said, and I was surprised at the slight British accent. "Can any of us even do that? I thought that was impossible."
I would like to kill them now, Ibrahaim whispered, and I felt my hand ball into a fist. I would like that very much indeed.
No killing! I responded. I still have to live here. Killing has consequences. You know, revenge, people coming after me. All that shit.
Just one—
No! I snapped, then realized something. I waved my hand in front of Lurch's face just to make sure. His eyes seems to slide right over me and then he looked away as if he didn't want to see me.
Why can't they see me? I asked.
It's the glammer, Ibrahaim grumbled. What's the point of giving them the illusion if they can still see you?
"So what do we tell Harry?" the Other One asked.
"This never happened," Lurch sniffed. "And if you say otherwise, I will call you a fucking liar."
The door swung shut behind them and I was alone. Well, as alone as I was ever going to be for the next twenty-four hours with the homicidal maniac inside my head. At least it wasn't going to be a long term thing otherwise masturbation was going to be really awkward.
The weight of what happened hit me all at once and it was terrifying.
"Oh fuck, I just made the Gentlemen run from me."
No, Ibrahaim replied, and I could feel the malevlence coming from him. Remember you place. I made them fear you. You are nothing without me.
"They're not going to forget this," I murmured, suddenly worried about my future. After Ibrahaim was gone, what did life even look like? Would Louise even give me a chance to explain what had happened? She had seemed pretty intent on murdering the fuck out of me and that thought still gave me instant heartburn. She had just looked so disappointed.
Beatrice was a completely different matter. What did she even want from me or Ibrahaim for that matter?
So many questions, and none of them could be answered standing around by myself in the back hallway of HTDK.
I had never felt so alone.
I got the fuck out of there before the Gentlemen decided to return.
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