"I don't need to remind you to be careful, do I?" Damon asked as he pulled the car over a block away from Stoker.
"I'm always careful." Violet slammed the car door close and walked with purpose towards the club entrance.
Damon watched her go with anxiety gnawing at the back of his mind. Was it a coincidence that Liz was dating a missing vampire? According to the manager at Necro, Elric hadn't been seen for over a week. Liz hadn't exactly looked like a woman whose boyfriend had gone missing. Add to that Alistair's legendary elitism. Vampires within the Obsidian Coven needed permission to associate with vampires in other covens. Damon doubted very much that Alistair would want any of his coven members becoming entangled with such a low ranked vampire from a third rate coven.
He put the car in gear and roared off down the road. While Violet worked on getting information from Liz, he was going to pay a visit to the paranormal community's favorite dealer. Nightshade was classified as an illegal substance after the Purge. Its use was heavily monitored by the vampire council. Unless you could make your own, Nightshade was only available on the Black Market.
If anyone knew who had recently purchased Nightshade, it would be Frankie. Damon just hoped the little weasel hadn't skipped town.
*********************************************************************
"Liiiiizziee! You've got some 'splain' to do!" Violet called sweetly, slinging her arm over her shoulder. Liz was on door duty at Stoker again. Perfect. At least this time, she wouldn't have to go inside. "She'll be just a minute. " Violet waved to same pixie-faced vampire they'd met the previous night.
"W-what are you doing here?" Liz tried sounding light and carefree, but there was a barely perceptible tremor in her voice.
Violet smiled and forced her to start walking around the corner of the building to the alley. "Oh, I just came by to have a little chat. Girl talk, you know?"
"I didn't think you were the girl talk type." Liz replied, smiling nervously. "I really should get back to--"
"Worrying about your missing boyfriend?" Violet interrupted and shoved her against the wall of the alley. She held up Elric's phone with their photo. "You two look really close. I'm surprised you haven't noticed he's been missing"
Liz's eyes widened. But with what? Surprise? Surprise that her boyfriend was missing? Or surprise that people had found out her boyfriend was missing? "H-how...? W-who could have done this?" Liz stammered, her hand rising to cover her mouth.
Violet smirked. "So we're playing distraught, are we?"
*********************************************************************************
Frankie was a wide-eyed shifty squirrel of a man. Damon recognized him the moment he slunk in the diner. He wore a grubby coat and a fedora long bent out of shape. He took a seat in a booth at the back of the diner. Facing the door.
Damon slipped out of the alcove by the men's room and took the seat across from Frankie.
Frankie shrieked and tried to wriggle out of the booth
Damon administered a hard kick to Frankie's bad knee and stomped on his foot. Frankie inhaled sharply and turned white. A low keening sound escaped his lips. His wide eyes roved around the diner, searching for a means of escape.
"I'm not here to bring you in, so you can relax." Damon spoke quietly.
"Ihaven'tdoneanythingwrong!" Frankie blurted in a rush. His panicked eyes pleaded with him.
"Really?" Damon replied dubiously. Leaning forward, Damon shoved his hand in Frankie's coat pocket and withdrew a baggie with a dozen blue pills. "Is this what I think it is?"
"It's not mine! I promise you, it's not miiiiiine!" Frankie wailed.
"Is there a problem here?" A waitress with a bored seen-it-all-twice expression snapped her gum at them. Her brassy blonde hair was knotted into a messy bun on the top of her head. Deep lines framed her thin lips like parentheses. Her name tag declared her to be "Charlene".
"No." Damon gave her a friendly smile. "Not at all."
"Good, then you're ready to order?" She snapped her gum again.
Damon sighed. "Two coffees. Black."
"You want anything else with that?" Charlene folded her arms over her chest with no intentions of walking away.
Rolling his eyes, Damon answered. "Sure. Give us the special." He turned back to Frankie, hoping the waitress would take a hint. She didn't.
"We've got two specials today. Which--"
"Surprise us!" Damon blurted.
"Alright...that tuna is going bad anyway." Charlene muttered as she headed for the kitchen.
Alone at last, Damon focused his attention on Frankie. "I just need to ask you a few questions."
Frankie's level of panic shot down from a 10 to a 7. "What kind of questions?"
"Do you know if anyone has been around buying Nightshade?" He pulled out the syringe from Elric's apartment.
A flicker of something passed in Frankie's pale grey eyes. He knew something. Damon pressed. He already had a suspicion about who was responsible, but Damon needed more than a hunch. Especially, if he turned out to be right. "Who was it?"
"I-I c-can't...I can't!" Frankie shrieked and struggled to get up.
"Okay, okay! Calm down. Take a deep breath." Damon inhaled and gestured Frankie to do the same. "And exhale."
Frankie exhaled shakily.
"Feel better?"
Frankie nodded.
"Good. Why don't we get a little air outside?"
******************************************************************************
"What were you doing with Elric? Everyone knows how strict Alistair is about socializing outside the coven." Violet was trying to be diplomatic, but her patience was wearing thin.
"I don't see how this is any of your business!" Liz shoved Violet back. "I care about Elric! I just thought he needed space. How could you think I'd have something to do with his disappearance?"
"Needed his space? That's interesting." Violet scrolled through Elric's messages.
"What is?!" Liz shouted, tears glimmering in her eyes.
Liz needed an Oscar for this performance. Violet tapped on the screen. "The night he went missing, you sent him a text that you had something urgent to tell him...and he was never seen again. I wonder what that urgent message could have been?"
"What are you getting at?" Liz sniffled delicately.
"Obedience. That's what I'm getting at. No one in the Obsidian Coven makes a move without Alistair's permission. Dating Elric...sending him a mysterious text...it's all Alistair's doing, isn't it?"
******************************************************************************
The cool night air ruffled the collar of Frankie's shabby coat. His pale eyes darted around the near empty parking lot. Just a little push and Frankie would tell him everything.
"How about I say a name and you just nod? Yes?"
Frankie considered it for a moment. Then nodded.
"Alis--" Damon was interrupted by a feral howl seconds before a body crashed into him. He and Frankie landed hard on the asphalt. Damon pushed himself up in time to see a zombie tear into Frankie's flesh. Frankie's high-pitched screams filled the air. Scrambling backwards, Damon ran into a pair of legs.
Damon looked up into the red glowing eyes of Elric. The vampire hissed and snarled, clawed hands reaching for him.
"STOP!"
Isabella's voice rang out, sharp and clear. It wasn't in his head this time. She was here. The zombie gnawing on Frankie's neck and Elric baring his fangs immediately froze. For a heart-stopping second, Damon thought he'd obeyed her too. However, it wasn't her command that paralyzed him. It was fear. His body vibrated with it.
"Don't be a naughty boy, Ricky. I don't want you roughing up my favorite toy." The voice that had once inspired desire, now only filled him with disgust. The click of her heels were like gunshots in the quiet parking lot. She patted Elric on the shoulder as she passed. "Take the other one with you."
Elric nodded blankly. He walked stiffly to the zombie, gripped him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him off Frankie. Damon swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. Frankie was lying in a pool of his own blood, terror twisting his face.
Isabella knelt between his legs and smiled at him. Her head tilted to the side. Long black curls framed her heart-shaped face. She rested her chin on her hands as she examined him. "Miss me?"
*******************************************************************************
"It's Alistair, isn't it!" Violet gripped Liz's shoulders. "It's--" Violet gasped at the sharp pain piercing her chest. Looking down, she saw a syringe in Liz's hand. An overwhelming lassitude spread from her chest through her limbs. Violet's hands dropped away from Liz. Her knees buckled and she started to collapse.
Liz wrapped her hand around Violet's neck. "No, Vi." She smiled coldly. "I didn't do this for Alistair." She leaned down to Violet's ear. "I did this for me." Violet's eyes fluttered close just before Liz let her hit the pavement.