King's Blood: Vampire Descent (A Serial Novel, Part 4) (11 page)

“
Where’s Ted?” I asked.

“
He’s asleep. It’s almost midnight,” she said. She closed her eyes and lowered her head, she was clearly tired. “Jack, I am exhausted. I don’t know what’s real anymore.”

“
That makes two of us,” I said, smiling and gently placing her hair behind her ear. I humbly asked, “Do you think I’m a monster?”

“
No, but I don’t know if I can trust you...or if it’s the situation I can’t trust? I just don’t know, Jack...I’m sorry.”

I quickly sat up on the cot. “Trust? I’m sorry but I had to lie...you wouldn’t have gone out with me if you knew what I was.”

“No, it’s not that...of course you had to lie. It’s just that, I just don’t know what to expect. I don’t even know where I am. I’m with these things in a cave. You’re somebody completely different. I always thought you had a family like me...a mother...a brother or a sister.” Holly caught herself, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to call you
things
. You’re just different and I don’t know what you are, what you can do, what you need...I just want to go home, Jack.”

I grabbed both of Holly’s hands tightly. “Did you have fun with me in L.A. And Hong Kong?”

“Yes I did, but...”

“
...but what? I’m still that same person. I still like having fun. My looks are still the same, I still like doing the same things you like to do. We’re not that different.”

“
You are, though. A vampire...a fucking vampire,” she yelled as she stood up from the cot. “What the hell, you’re not supposed to be real.”

“
Look, I know the word vampire has all these fantastical connotations attached to it, but in the end, it’s just a word. A word that describes another human with a different set of traits. I still can feel, I still can taste, I still can have fun and…I still can love,” I pleaded with Holly. I slowly got up from the cot and I gently grabbed her hand and placed it on my chest. “Feel that? It’s beating. I’m not dead.”

Holly pulled her hand away and retreated. She crossed her arms and sunk in her chest with insecurity. “What about blood...don’t you need blood to survive?”

“Yes, we do.”

“
How come you didn’t bite me?” she asked.

“
Goddammit Holly, it’s because I like you. I really like you, okay?”

Holly paused and stared at me without expression. I felt my words beginning to slowly impact her. She switched gears after pondering what to say next. “Why didn’t you bite my neck? If it’s true what they say about you, I would have been bitten by now.”

“No, I had other sources...”

Holly gave me an inquisitive look. “...other sources? Like what, other women, men, dead people, cats?”

I briefly closed my eyes and Holly’s questioning had once again put me in a position to lie.

“
Well?” she asked.

She had me tongue-tied. “I don’t want to lie to you anymore.”

“Then don’t.”

“
There was another girl at the time.”

“
Who?”

“
This girl named Cassie...but it wasn’t serious,” I said.

“
So, she gave you blood?”

“
Yeah, but I needed it to survive.”

“
Was it consensual?”

“
Of course, I’m not going around biting necks without permission.”

“
Were you dating her?”

“
No...I mean...yes. Look, it doesn’t matter; I don’t like her like that.”

Holly displayed a look of disappointment. I had lost her. She didn’t take one step closer to me that entire night. For the first time since knowing her, there was a distance between us. The carefree attraction between the two of us was now as dry as a stale saltine.

I tried approaching her but she quickly backed away. Her mascara-smeared eyes stared at me, with emptiness. Holly had made up her mind. I was no longer the good-looking, confident and debonair jet-setter she had initially fallen for, but a liar. I was a liar who was barely surviving in a parallel world fit for freaks. I was one who, due to extraneous circumstances, was destined to never be trusted.

“
I’m sorry, Jack,” Holly said. “I tried, I really tried.”

“
Tried what? Can’t you see why I lied?”

“
It’s not the lies. Please, just help me leave this place.”

I rolled my eyes. The anxiety of loneliness began creeping back into my head. I sat down and began shaking my head. “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”

Holly responded morosely, “I don’t know. I need to go back home.”

Holly was desperate to leave. If I helped get her out of China, I was afraid I would never see her again. Maybe she could stay a few days more and I could convince her to like me again. However, the longer she was kept in Guilin, the more stressed she’d become—the poor girl needed a clear mind.

“Just stay a little more...we’ll head to Singapore after this; I have some accounts down there,” I begged. I realized that I was as good as dead to the company and my clients. I was unemployed, destitute, and most likely, homeless.

“
Jack, just let me go home.”

As hurtful as it would be to lose her, I had to let go. My eyes began to water but I held strong, and with a rigid change in tone, I implored, “Holly, no one can know of us.”

She continued to stare at me without saying a word.

“
They will hunt me down and will capture or kill us, do you understand?” I walked closer to her, and this time she stood still. “I will get you out of here. Tomorrow at sunrise, I’ll convince Milton to arrange for you to be led to safety.”

Holly began to sob uncontrollably and I embraced her in my arms. It was difficult to keep my eyes dry as I knew that this was going to be our last embrace. One of the most beautiful things I had ever laid my eyes on was to soon become a distant memory. “I’m sorry,” I said. Holly didn’t respond and just nodded her head on my shoulder. I absorbed her warmth, which was probably the last piece of herself that Holly would ever give to me.

Chapter Eleven

“
Wake up.”

I opened my eyes and sat upright. Milton—who had on his hood and mask—threw me a gray pullover and an ugly pair of pants whose fabric felt like sandpaper.

“Is this a dream, again?” I asked, glassy-eyed and groggy.

Milton pinched me on my arm.

“Ow, what the...”

“
See, you’re awake.”

“
Where’s Holly?” I asked.

“
She’s awake and anxious to leave,” he said, his voice muzzled behind his mask.

“
Can you take that ridiculous thing off your face...you’re freaking me out,” I said, pushing aside my shirt, as I took a careful look at my wound. Milton stared at my scar with a confused look.

“
What happened to you?” he asked.

“
It’s a long story,” I said.

“
You healed?”

“
Yeah, I’m all right.”

     “
What do you want to do with Holly? She told me you had agreed to let her leave.”

“
We need to get her to the nearest embassy or get her to someone that could get her back to the U.S. safely.”

“
Well, there is a pretty good immigration lawyer down in Guilin City,” he said. “He’s helped me get some associates to the United States before.”

“
What time is it?” I asked.

“
It’s 5 a.m.”

I held up the pair of brown pants that looked as if they were made of the cheapest burlap material. “I know I am in no position to be picky, but this outfit is going to make me itch like crazy—got anything else?”

“Nope,” he said, with a shrug. “I mean, if you still want to look like a bloody mess, it’s your choice.”

I didn’t answer and I began putting on the pants as Milton waited with his arms crossed and back against the wall. Milton’s overtures always seemed as if there was an ulterior motive behind them. There was a constant and nagging feeling that in return for my safety, shelter, and information he wanted something valuable from me. Problem was, I was running out valuable things to offer.

“Can I ask a favor?”

“
Depends,” he said.

“
Can you arrange a meeting with this attorney in Guilin, today?”

“
Okay,” Milton curtly responded.

“
Is that a
yes
?
”

“
Of course,” he said. “Jenny will take her to the attorney, but she’ll probably have to stay down there for a couple of days. It takes a while to process these types of arrangements, if you know what I mean.”

“
I don’t think Holly will mind. Hey, let me ask you, is it okay if Ted goes down there with them? He can keep her at ease. This whole thing has been so traumatizing for her.”

“
Sure,” Milton said.

“
That’s it? Hey man, you’re an all right guy,” I said.

“
We had a deal and all I ask of you is to remain steadfast in your part of the deal.”

“
No problem,” I said.

“
Let’s get them ready, we’re running out of moonlight so you can say your proper goodbyes,” he said with a calm sense of urgency.

The pants Milton gave me were very loose. I felt like a three-year-old who was trying on his teenage brother’s pair of jeans, the baggy ones. I looked at Milton with a blush of embarrassment. “Got a belt?”

Milton dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out an old, dirty rope. “Here use this...”

As I tightened the rope around my waist, I asked, “Is this lawyer a trustworthy guy?”

“I haven’t had any problems with him. Like I said, he has helped get some kids into a university in California.”

“
Wait a minute, you’ve sponsored college kids? Why?” I asked suspiciously.

“
If we didn’t steal all the nice things around you, how do you think we got them?” he laughed. “Our students major in international business, horticulture, and chemistry, and I’ll leave it at that.”

The Jiang-Shi were partly funded by the drug trade, probably opiates like heroin. It made sense why Milton was so interested in Zeo. He was probably looking to expand his clientele beyond humans.

I followed Milton out of the barracks and into the dining hall. Ted, Holly, and Jenny were sitting at one of the tables. They were eating a simple breakfast of eggs and a toasted roll. Holly sat still as a statue and just stared at her plate. Ted had pieces of egg in his beard, and Jenny just nibbled on her roll.

“
Good morning,” Milton said. “Jack has an announcement to make.”

“
Well, umm...this is mostly for you, Holly,” I said, clearing my throat. “Ted, if you want to leave, too, you are more than welcomed to.”

Ted put his fork down and sat completely silent.

“Milton has a lawyer who can get you both back to California,” I said. I took a quick glance at Milton, for reassurance. “It’s gonna take a couple of days, from what he tells me, but he promises it’s safe.”

Holly looked up at me with a hardened set of eyes. “Where am I going to stay, while this
lawyer
arranges my return?”

I looked at Milton for an answer.

“Jenny will take you down to Guilin City and she’ll arrange a hotel for you,” he said.

“
How can I trust you this time?” she asked, her eyes slowly drifting from Milton to me.

“
Ted?” I asked, his hands tightly gripped his mug, staring at it in deep thought. “You want to head back, too?”

“
No, I’m gonna stick around. I’ll watch your back a little while longer,” he said, lifting his mug.

“
I have business to attend to with the Jiang-Shi, can you make sure Holly gets on a plane or boat safely?”

“
Sure,” he said. He looked at Holly. “Is that okay with you?”

Holly nodded and began to tear up. I felt horrible. I felt that maybe Holly wanted me to go instead of Ted. But I felt it was best to begin the process of detachment. I had to wean myself off of her. She had already made her feelings known that I was too different, or that my state of existence was too much of a shock to her conformed upbringing. I looked away from her eyes as they were filled with doubt, and doubt was all I needed to try again. I had to remain strong.

“Let’s go,” said Milton. “Jenny, take the Stryker...Ted, take my Ducati—you know how to ride that thing, right?”

“
Pffft, of course, man,” Ted said, with confidence.