Dracula: Hearts of Fire (Dracula Heart's) (34 page)

     Lauren
looked right toward Bleecker Street and then left towards W4th Street.
She
glanced at her Bulova watch and wasn’t impressed with the time that had elapsed.
Her beautiful gray blue eyes scanned the area
, stopping at the Little Havana restaurant across the street, where about a dozen people were all entering at the same time
.
Discovering that he had been in New York searching for her
, she had finally
got
ten
word to Michael and waited impatiently for his arrival
.
Love’s pull was stronger than the most powerful magnet.

    “Come on Michael hurry up.”

   
Because whatever wizard
had taken her remained out there somewhere, it made her nervous.
However he had gotten his hands on her, and she assumed that it was a HIM, remained
a blank. She hadn’t a clue
how she had ended up in that coffin; that was particularly worrying as she gave everyone in the area the once over. Being vulnerable wasn’t a good feeling.
What would she do if she encountered that damn wizard? Should she fight or flee?

    “Come on Michael.”
Lauren
sat in one of the green chairs and
had an opened bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne
beside her on the table,
drinking directly
from the bottle
. She
was happy to be alive and would be happier to look upon Michael
’s
face.
Lauren attempted to call Michael but got
no answer. She could imagine a lot of things but it would only be her imagination at work and nothing factual. The day was starting to get heavier
and she hoped for lighter moments before it came to an end
.

    “
Don’t tell me that you’ve been kidnapped as well.
” The statement meant nothing until it came out and then it frightened her. What if whoever
had had her trapped in that coffin
took Michael just to get at
her. It wasn’t a completely bizarre thing to consider
, actually it made sense
.
Oh, how she wished she hadn’t said it
, hadn’t thought it, hadn’t felt it
.
He could be used as bait t
o lure the sheriff back into the wizard’s
magical hands, and as she considered it she realized that it would probably work. The level of anxiousness was rising and nothing would lower it except for Michael.

   
She pictured him
in a coffin and it tore at the fabric of her heart.

    When Michael was officially an hour late Lauren felt
like pulling her swords
off her back and slicing something
; she couldn’t do it but she visualized it.
Chopping things to pieces like as buzz saw.
She tried to take a deep breath and relax but it didn’t work.
A young black couple crossed
the street
, both so attractive that they looked as if they had jumped off the cover of a glamour magazine.
The kids that they would produce woul
d certainly be exceptional
.
Once on the sidewalk the
y kissed
a
nd she wanted to split them
in two.
Not really but they did annoy her.
Finally, they made their way down the street and eventually out of sight.

    Tick tock, tick
     
tock.

    Yet another disturbing scenario entered her mind. It had been a near death experience for her so what if she was experiencing
some kind of emotional problems? Not a mental breakdown
per se but there could be after
effects that she would have to work through.
Lauren
was one tough lady but everyone had their b
reaking points
.
She faced death and conquered it
but there could
be repercussions
. What if that horse hadn’t been there?

    Lauren would work through it. It would be better when Michael arrived.
Michael’s face would comfort her. Michael presence would sooth her soul. But what if Michael didn’t show up?

    Again the red sheriff glanced at her watch.

    Lauren couldn’t get the law involved as Michael had only been missing for an hour and a half. That wasn’t rea
lly missing at all he was
delayed.
Delayed like a train that had been derailed?
Was Michael now trapped in a coffin waiting for her to rescue him? That didn’
t even make a smidgeon of sense
or did it?
Worrying about something that wasn’t factual was asinine.
Stress was rubbed out of her forehead but quickly returned.
She couldn’t search the entire city
for him she simply had to wait. On the phone he had sounded anxious to see her
, so
where the hell was he?

   
Tick     tock.
Tick       
 
tock.
Time had slowed to the pace of a three-toed sloth.

   
Her mind drifted back to the coffin,
whoever had entrapped her was still ou
t there and that was
worrying on multiple levels. She would have to seek out another wizard to
see if she could track down the bastard. Telling
herself
not to look at her watch
was maddening.
That watch was becoming the enemy.
Lauren
felt a little stupid at how she was overreacting.
She was quite sure th
at he was on the way, but
he should have been there by now. The street was
examined in both directions, still
no sign of him. Picking up the bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne she downed the rest of it, got up and
started to pace.

    “Michael, where are you?” Lauren was now getting looks from a senior couple
d
at a ne
arby table; she noticed it but didn’t care.
Perhaps she was a
cting a little irrational, talking to herself.
Against her own judgement she checked her watch
yet again
, now almost two hours h
ad passed. What
if
she never heard from him again?
Never knowing his fate would forever haunt her.

    Michael was at a Men’s Warehouse trying on new suits. He had the choice down to two but had lost the connection with time.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

    A DEAD BLACK BEAR was pro
pped up against a fir tree,
its lifeless eyes staring straight ahead.
The eyes were small, round and widely spaced.
Just recently killed it continued to look good
, as good as a dead bear could look
.
Keith was happy to be in the company of the bear.
He pinched the bear’s cheeks in an affectionate manner.
The sick vampire
brought it a large
rainb
ow trout and put it in its mouth,
then took the bear’s large paw
and scratched the back of his head
where it was itchy
.
He got satisfaction from
hugg
ing
the
bear
but unfortunately it didn’t reciprocate.

    “Looks like it’s going to be another nice day,” he said to the bear.

    “Looks like,” said the bear.
“I’m craving dandelions right now.”

    Keith blinked several times as
he looked into the animal’s dark
eyes. “
Don’t think
dandelions would taste very goo
d.”

    The vampire looked puzzled. The tree that was ten feet to his left winked at
him.
His mind attempted to make sense of his surroundings.
“Maybe
I’ll go hunting for some honey for you later. Would you like that?
I bet you’d like that wouldn’t you?
”

    “Honey makes me fart,” said the bear. “I’d rather have a bottle of whiskey.”

    Keit
h stared at the bear
.
His mind went round and round.
“Really? What kind
would you like
?”

   
The fish fell from the bear’s mouth onto the ground.
“Canadian club would be okay. Say Keith, does my ass look fat to you?”

   
“Looks hairy
.
It looks to be a
bout the right size for a bear.
Hey, no matter what you always have a bear ass.
”

    The bear nodded and seem
ed happy enough with the conversation
. “How many bears does it take to screw in a light bulb?”

    “How many?”