Kill Wilson (Petersburg Vampires) (10 page)

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Amp woke late the next afternoon in the king bed she and
Katy had fallen asleep in, the curtains drawn tight to prevent any sunlight
spilling into the room. Raising her head, she knew she had her arm across
Katy’s chest, but there was something else.

Looking over, she was surprised to see Nikka, wearing
only a pair of panties, lying next to Katy, the two still asleep, Nikka’s arm draped
across Katy’s lower back. By the looks of things, the three had slept snuggled
tightly together. She was surprised at the tattoos that covered all of Nikka’s
back, shoulders, and upper arms, intricate colored designs created by amazing
artists; scenes of battles and pirates and good versus evil. She knew, without
ever asking, that each design was important in the long life of Nikka Olson, a
beautiful depiction of important milestones of her existence.

Although she didn’t remember the vampire slipping into
their bed, Nikka’s presence there was not displeasing; although it did pique
her curiosity. It also helped her make a decision that had been weighing heavy
on her mind.

Getting quietly out of bed, Amp went into the bathroom.
Vampires did not urinate or defecate, did not menstruate or grow hair anywhere
on their body, and did not grow fingernails. But they did bathe and brush their
teeth and take care of their grooming. After finishing in the bathroom, Amp
came out to find the others awake, Katy sitting on the end of the bed, Nikka in
a green velvet wing chair.

“Hey team, I think we slept another day away,” she laughed,
looking at Nikka with a question on her face.

“Hope you didn’t mind me sleeping with you guys, I should
have asked, but you were both pretty out of it, and I had a need to sleep next
to somebody. Sorry.”

“I thought I dreamed that. I felt you get into bed, but I
was so out of it, I didn’t know what was happening. So I just dug in. It felt
good,” Katy smiled.

“Doesn’t bother me,” Amp said.
“Beds
big enough for a couple of more people.”

“I’m going to get dressed, talk to you in a bit,” Nikka
said, nodding at Katy, and heading for the adjoining door.

Amp followed, needing to talk to the other vampire in
private. Closing the door behind them, Nikka turned, expecting Amp to chastise
her for invading her personal space.

“I love your tattoos,” she said. “I’ve never seen tattoos
that stirred such emotions in me, and I don’t know why. They are beautiful, and
frightening, and audacious all at the same time.”

“Thank you…they’re a compilation of a lot of things in my
life.” She didn’t talk about her tattoos to anyone, had never had a good enough
friend to discuss her life. After thinking about it for a moment, she didn’t
think this was about her tattoos.

“I think I’m going to send Katy home,” Amp said, sitting
down on a loveseat in the living room.

“Got a reason?” Nikka asked.

“Yeah, lots of them,” Amp started. “First and foremost,
I’m planning to go to Alaska and probably dying. That’s not fair to her. No way
would I let her go with me, and seriously, having her anywhere within reach
makes her a burden...and maybe a target. I can’t be worrying about her when I’m
trying to plan something as big and dangerous as what I want to do. She’s
human, and she’s a sweetheart, but she’s completely unnecessary, and she needs
to go.”

Nikka respected her friend for the decision, but decided
to play devil’s advocate, just to cover all the bases. “Why not turn her, and
then a lot of the worry would be alleviated? As vampire, she would be another
hand for you in a battle.”

“No,” Amp said forcefully. “That’s not a reason to turn
her. She’s a little young…I don’t know…tender.”

“Amp, she’s three years older than you were when you were
turned, and she’s a little bigger and heavier than you are. If you plan on
going into battle, her going with you isn’t that much of a stretch.”

Amp had to smile at that logic, the other girl not having
a clue to Amp’s talents.

“I think she has to go home to Portland, and I think she
has to go with no memory of me…of us. It’s the honorable thing to do. I’ll send
her on her way with a pocket full of cash and a ticket, and she’ll have to deal
with it.”

“Do you love her?”

“I don’t love anything right now, Nikka. I loved my
friends, not in a sexual way, although for a little bit Danner and I used each
other sexually. It was okay, but it didn’t take long for me to realize I needed
something else. He figured it out pretty quick, too, and never came to me for
sex again. I loved that about him; he understood me and respected me.”

“So who was the man that killed you, the one Danner
tossed in the river?”

“My father.”

“Oh no,” Nikka cried, shocked. “I’m so sorry, Amp.”

“I am too. He was a monster, that’s all I remember about
him. My mom died when I was ten or eleven…smallpox. It seemed to hit the
Chinese especially hard where we were at. He started raping me right after
that. It went on for years, whenever he was drunk, and could find me. He was so
brutal, used to beat me until I would beg him to kill me…until I was covered in
blood and filth and my own shit, then he raped me in every possible way you can
be raped…over and over and over. I got really good at hiding from him, but eventually
my friends got scared of helping me,
cause
he didn’t
care who it was, he’d get them, too. He’d beat my friends, my friend’s parents,
everyone. They threw him in jail a bunch of times, but never kept him. The
police didn’t care if he beat his chink kid…couldn’t have cared…even though
they knew he was raping me. When I was fifteen, I ran away for good, was gone
for almost a year working in this sweatshop with a bunch of Chinese women. We
sewed clothes all day, damn, I remember how sore my hands would be when I got
finished with work. It was all good though, because he didn’t know where I was.
My big mistake was not leaving Cincinnati. The night he stabbed me, I was
walking home from work, and he staggered out of this tavern. I ran so fast, so
fricking
hard, but he caught me and stabbed me over and
over. Danner said I should have died, that he had never seen anyone survive
something that horrible.”

“That is so sad, Amp. I don’t know what to say. Thank god
for Danner being there. That’s a great example of someone needing to be dead.”

“I wish Danner hadn’t killed him,” Amp said, surprising
Nikka.

“Because he was your father?
I
guess that’s a really strong bond, huh?”

“No, nothing to do with that,” Amp answered. “I wish he
had lived so that I could have gone back after Danner turned me. Nikka, I would
have dismembered him, piece by piece. I would have ripped his legs off, his
arms, taken his eyes, and before he died, I would have choked that bastard with
his own miserable dick. That’s why I wish Danner hadn’t killed him. So, in a
weird way, I suppose, Danner saved him, too. Cause my choice of punishment was
a bit harsher than a broken neck. Maybe that’s why I like girls more than boys.
Girls have a different set of equipment, and whenever I think about a penis,
the memories come flooding back. I don’t know anything about love; I think I’m
just a user…at least where sex is concerned. Katy’s sweet, and nice, and
delicious, but cutting her loose is the right thing to do, before she gets
hurt.”

Nikka looked at her friend, nodding slightly. “Yep, I
think that’s the right decision. You are pretty wise for a kid.”

------

Nikka left Amp and Katy alone for the rest of the night,
not coming back to the hotel until an hour before dawn. She slept most of the
day in her room, not wishing to infringe on her friend’s space, not sure if
Katy was in the next room, or already back in Portland. Nikka had little
experience in dealing with anyone who she cared about, Amp being the first in a
very long time. Her mind told her that Amp would need her during this
transition, and she was determined to be there for her.

The knock on the adjoining door came near eight o’clock,
Amp coming through it a moment later. She looked down, but not exactly out.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Amp asked halfheartedly.

“Grab your jacket,” Nikka replied, already grabbing hers,
taking Amp by the elbow and pulling her back into the other bedroom. “We’re out
of here.”

“Out of here where?”
Amp
asked, pulling on her blue windbreaker.

“Sidewalk sale at Pacific Place Mall.
It’s not far, walking distance, and every store is open until midnight. This is
like a big deal for me. I love that
Wal
Mart stays
open all night, but shit, I can only take so much of that. This place has
Coach, Guess, Eddie Bauer, and my very favorite, Victoria’s Secret.
New
undies
, Amp.
Sexy stuff…thongs and French cuts and see through.
This will
be so much fun. I’ll model for you…I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
She was laughing so hard, her mood quickly passed on to Amp.

“I’ve never bought sexy
undies
,”
Amp laughed. “Six pack white cotton at
Wal
Mart. I
won’t know how to act.”

“Come on, we’re going to find out,” Nikka answered,
walking out the door. “This is like a great and monumental day for vamps.
A
fricken
nighttime sidewalk sale.
Brilliant.”

They walked to the mall holding hands the entire way, two
girlfriends having a girl’s night out. They laughed and joked, and never said
one serious word, and the subject of Katy never came up.

Nikka wanted to know about the places that Amp had lived,
and Amp was only too glad to talk about it.

“I liked it when we lived near college towns. I’ve taken
so many college classes…I’d have to check to see how many hours I’ve accrued, probably
500 or so. I’m a professional student, because I never had anything else to do.
I like to learn, and it really doesn’t matter what it is I’m learning. If
there’s a night class happening, I’m there. Sometimes I’m enrolled; sometimes I
just go sit in the class, and learn without receiving credit. It doesn’t
matter.”

“I didn’t learn to read until the last few years,” Nikka
said. “I love it, love finding a great book and losing myself in it. There’s
not a lot of need for reading and writing when you spend centuries on a pirate
ship. I’m in awe of what you’ve accomplished. Which places did you like?”

“There are only a couple of the cities I truly liked.
Most of them were just places that we spent time in, waiting for the next move.
Danner told us on the way to Alaska that after we got back, we were going to
find a permanent place to live. It would have been the greatest gift he could
give us. Riley and I were tired of moving. I sometimes felt that if eternity
was about relocating every three years, and never knowing anyone, pretending to
be something I wasn’t and hiding what I was, never having a friend, never a
home…maybe infinity is a bit overrated.”

“I know how you feel. I finally settled in Washington
just because of the nice weather and lack of bright days. I still never let
myself get close to people, although I do hang with other vamps occasionally.
Where did you want to settle?” Nikka asked.

“My favorite place was Lawrence, Kansas. It was perfect…for
me anyway. It’s a college town, only 35 miles from Kansas City, which is
convenient. It’s constantly turning over its 30,000 students, so nobody is
going to notice me much, just another student. I use to grab a backpack and
walk the campus in the evening, just mingling with the students, acting like I
was one of them. I hung out on campus for three years, and it was good times, the
most fun I’ve ever had in my life. I was looking for something, and I never
found it, nor did I even know what it was I was looking for. Not until now, not
until you came along. Now I know exactly what was missing in my life. I sure
love Kansas, though.”

“I never would have thought about hanging around a campus
like that. How original.
Plenty of sex, food, and
rock-n-roll.
How awesome is that? Did you ever meet anyone who you wanted
to stay with, you know, like take a mate?”

“Never,” Amp answered. “I’ve had plenty of…you know,
partners, both male and female, although only a few males…and none in a very
long time, but I never felt anything special for any of them.
Just food and fun.”

Nikka laughed. “I know, right. I had a few favorites I
would return to several times, start to get close to them, then slap myself back
to reality.”

Amp nodded. “I thought Katy was going to be special, and
she was, just not enough, you know what I’m saying? And Silas, down in L.A., I
think he wanted to get with me, he certainly wanted me to stay there. But
Danner always said vampire relationships don’t work well. Silas was more like an
amazing older brother. I never seriously considered staying with him, but I’ve
fantasized about it a lot. He’s gorgeous, and such a badass. Maybe someday I’ll
go back down and give the male species another try.”

Nikka was laughing at her. “I think this whole lesbian
rebel thing you got going is a sham,” she giggled.
“Although
it’s pretty hot.
I think all you need is a big ‘
ol
…”

“Shut up,” Amp shouted, laughing out loud at her friend.
“All I need is some pretty little
undies
. Just leave
it at that.”

The upscale mall was packed with late nighters, and the
girls spent a couple of hours walking from shop to shop, enjoying the fleeting
moment of normalcy. Nikka was a shopper, Amp a looker, and Nikka ended up
forcing Amp to try on different outfits, judging the styles, and buying
whatever she thought looked good on her friend.

By the time they arrived at the lingerie shop, both their
arms were filled with packages from a half a dozen different stores.

“When we’re finished, let’s take a taxi,” Amp smiled,
putting her packages on the floor of the last shop. “No way am I carrying all
this stuff.”

“Good plan. Now let’s find you something that makes you
smile. The best feeling in the world
is knowing
you’re
wearing something underneath your clothes that could make a guy or girl crazy.
Puts you one up before the game even starts.

They tried on different intimate things for the remainder
of the night, Nikka making a large stack of panties and bras, and sleepwear
that she planned to buy.

When the manager announced it was ten minutes until
closing, the girls checked out, making the clerk a very happy young lady.

Struggling out the door with their packages, they waited
at a taxi stand, hoping all of their bags would fit in the vehicle.

“Thank you,” Amp said as they waited. “This is about the
nicest night I can ever remember. I’ve never had a girl’s night out…ever. I’ve
never had a girlfriend to hang out with. Thank you for both of those things.”

Looking at her friend’s teary eyes, Nikka felt better
than she had in a very long time. “You’re welcome, Amp. Thank you for being my
friend. I feel we can accomplish anything together. If we don’t, we’re going to
look damn good trying.”