Other Places 1: Shortcuts (19 page)

Randal rolled his eyes and got sarcastic then, "hey Mitch, why don't we tell them our
entire
plan? Moron. Now, shut up. We came to do something..."

Those words got Zack the body back, for some unknown reason. If there was a fight coming, he wasn't exactly the one to be in charge, was he? It wasn't until he looked over at the door, which he hadn't seen open at all, or even heard move, that he got the idea, it wasn't going to be a battle. Not at all. Just an execution.

Bey stood there, smiling, his feet slightly further apart than normal, his hands open, but pointed slightly toward the floor. Before he could move, Zack held up a hand.

"Wait, please. We were just discussing how these three could survive. I personally suggest throwing yourself on The Bey's mercy. Maybe add in some things about this Lazar person and how
very
much you want to help prevent a war. You know, being good Vampire citizens and all that."

The cowboy tried to move first, headed toward the window. His head rolled off onto the carpet without Bey even seeming to have moved. It got blood on the sofa. Thicker and darker than normal too, which would probably make it stain even worse than if the guy had been a regular person. Zack sighed and pointed at it.

"Come on guys, I can't afford a new sofa
and
a new carpet. The fact is that either you throw in with us, or you die, right here and now. The right answer seems pretty clear to me, but I don't know what you've been through. Maybe you two are ready for it to all be over? If so, then why not tell us what you know first... and then Bey and I can take you somewhere nice and make sure you die in peace? If you don't want to survive I mean." It was kind of a sad thought, since they were nearly immortal and all that already. It could be what they wanted though. It almost had to happen, didn't it? Some people just wouldn't be cut out for long term survival.

It was seventies girl that moved first, going to her knees and putting her hands out in front of her, begging, bending low. Randal followed suit a few seconds later, looking a bit pissed about it. He did it anyway and Bey looked over at Zack, instead of the floor where the possible threats were. It was a good sign that the older Vampire just didn't think of these kids as a real threat at all.

"Well, friend Zack, what do you want to do now?"

Shrugging he smiled.

"Um, well, we should try to use them to steal as many of their friends from this Lazar guy as possible, then kill the rest using our new mini-army."

It made sense to him, and for some reason Bey clapped.

"Ah! Perfect!"

Luckily, as Bey put it being more than a little flowery about the whole thing, Zack and Troy were both far too important to be placed in charge of that aspect of an issue that was, after all, not their problem. It was a very polite way of telling them that they didn't have to die to make it all work. He seemed pretty happy with the idea anyway. The younger Vampires, Randal and Rowan, both seemed to think it was a trick, but Troy snorted at them when it was suggested by the angry eighties man.

"A trick to do
what
? Save the carpeting in here? If Mr. Bey here wanted you dead, we'd all be carting your bodies away by now. You're being given a chance, so, you know, if I were you I'd straighten up and fly right..." There was a sudden stop as Troy held his head. "Damn, I've turned into my father haven't I? What's next? I threaten to take my belt off and turn this car around?"

Not getting it Bey and Zack both just stood still, but Rowan smiled. Weakly. She was pretty enough, in a kind of better than average, but not television level, way. The other female Vampires were all just as pretty, though most not really more so particularly.

That was what he was thinking when Bey asked to used the phone and if they had a blanket or something they didn't mind losing, to wrap the body of Mitch up. The headless cowboy was distressing Troy a little. It was strange, but the body didn't bother Zack at all he noticed. Shrugging, Troy got his second best bed spread, the one that was nice enough, but had a large red wine stain on it from something or other.

Since it didn't bother him overly, he moved to lay the thing out, its silky brown surface plenty large, only to find Rowan helping him move the man's body onto it. The others just watched, at first, until Bey made a phone call, after very politely asking if that would be permitted. He had to use Troy's cell after all, which was personal property.

Troy nodded, looking a little pale, like he might be ill.

"Sure, um, it's not long distance is it?" Then he shook his head, looking at the now truly dead corpse, which hadn't done anything as convenient as turn into ash or vanish on its own, like it would in a movie. "You know, don't worry about it. Go ahead and call whoever you want."

There was a little bow from the man to Troy then, and a call made quickly enough that some kind of super power was clearly involved. He asked the address and held the phone out so that the person on the other end could hear it. Then after just a few words, he hung up, smiling.

"Very well. I have people coming to see to our new compatriots. Randal and Rowan... Well, those are fine names, aren't they? You understand that you are to be, how shall we put it... On conditional freedom? Bought for you initially by the Line Walker, but the dues must be paid by you in cooperation and good behavior. If you betray us, you die, of course. You have a chance, one that I was not originally going to give you. I was merely on my way to execute you all when I happened to catch your scent here. Be most pleased that you did not accidentally kill the Line Walker or Mr. Lopez. They are both far more important than you are right now. Do you understand?" There was a happy smile and friendly voice to go along with it. Rowan nodded and mumbled something polite sounding, and Randal just grumped at them.

"Always the one on the freaking bottom, aren't I?"

Bey smiled at him, and it wasn't, Zack noticed, the one he used when people were in trouble.

"That's a part of being young. Yes, you fill that essential position near the base, and it takes centuries for our kind to move out of it, in the main. However, this is an opportunity for growth, both personally and in a social sense, if you play it correctly. You are on the bottom today. Tomorrow you may be much higher, if you work hard and are clever. I would enjoin you to think about that."

It was curious but there was a little bow that went with it, first to Randal and then Rowan. As an afterthought he turned to Troy and beamed for a few seconds.

"Indeed, there is room for much advancement. Mr. Lopez, I think that it would be most advantageous if you were to organize the plan to absorb the fellows of our new friends into the local organization. I hear that Edom is most impressed with your current enthusiasm as far as organizational properties. We very nearly went with your plan to kill them all you know, using the older Vampires in the area to move on them during the day. It is merely that I have a plan in place for such things that is time tested that prevented it. Since we are moving from that now, perhaps a fresh mind would be best to head up that portion of things?"

The little Vampire elder walked slowly across the room and placed a hand on Zack's roommate's shoulder.

"What do you think our new friends should do first?"

Mirror Him was watching Rowan and had some suggestions for her at least.

"Let's throw that skank in the shower and see if she smells any better for it." The words were followed by some other suggestions for Randal that weren't half as friendly. When Troy didn't say anything, Zack did though, working from M.H.'s idea. After a fashion.

"If others are coming, we should make sure these two have a chance to make a good first impression. I don't have any girl's clothing, but I have some things that might fit them. Rowan should use the shower first, since she's the lady." Were there rules for things like that? Between the two, neither of whom he was overly happy with, Zack liked her slightly better, hence getting to shower first.

Rather than be insulted, she smiled shyly and let Troy show her to the little room for it, after raiding the new clothing on Zack's bed for an oversized sweater, a belt and pair of black slacks that he wasn't certain would fit her. She eyed them and swore she could make them work. When she came out, about ten minutes later, she smelled a whole lot better, and had clean wet hair. That part was odd, because moments after Randal changed places with her, it was totally dry.

Absorbed into her.

She certainly looked better for it too, even with the slightly boyish clothing.

Randal was bigger and while he got a clean shirt that fit, had to use his own blue jeans, since nothing they had would really work. He was cleaner at any rate, when the others finally got there, parking around the corner a good way and walking in.

They came as a group, descending on the house with a grim purpose that Zack didn't really like at all. If they were just going to kill the new kids, they should have told him, since he wouldn't have let them wear his new cloths for it. Edom, Lenore and Nikki were the ones that came inside, but there were at least six more that hid and waited for them to do something. Zack could feel the rifts they crated outside when they moved. It was kind of useful, really.

As Ed started to move in on Randal, who just stood grimly, Bey smiled and explained it all to him.

"Ah! These are
our
new people. More to the point Edom, they are given over to your care. Young Troy is, I believe, taking them on as a project? He's agreed to organize our new friends for us, isn't that wonderful?"

Edom stopped and went very still, then nodded, a cool smile on his face that warmed a bit when he thought about things for a moment. Nicole shook her fake red hair out of her face and brushed it away as Lenore glared at the body on the floor.

"I see that they're prone to littering? Well, I suppose that we can dispose of that. Let's call the others to have it loaded into the trunk of my car. I hate digging ditches, but if it must be done..."

Thinking about it Zack shrugged.

"Messy. I can take him through the node, if one of you helps me. Bey can do it, but he's probably busy right now. That thing where you jumped and let me pull you through? Can you explain that to someone?" It was a cool trick and he half expected to insist on doing it himself, but instead he called for Barb, who just nodded when she heard about the idea.

"I'll need a shovel. Luckily I dressed for this." She didn't smile or anything, seeming pretty somber about it all in fact. It took her a little practice to get the trick of it, at least while carrying a flopping wrapped up corpse on her shoulder, since the head kept trying to slip out. Five minutes later they were off in a far location that he didn't think was in human lands at all. At least everything was slightly purple. It was hard to tell, since it was night, but as Barb explained, the sun made her sleepy. She was old enough that she didn't have to sleep if she didn't want to, but it was work.

"Like how, if you wanted to be up for three days straight. You could do it, but it takes effort and isn't much fun. Caffeine doesn't help us either. As you get older it's easier to deal with. Of course, that's our kind of Vampire. There are six of us, different sorts. Everyone here is the same family. Some of the others are wild though, if you ever get to meet them. Not all bad. Us Classics about the worst as far as going to war and starting problems, to tell the truth."

She spoke calmly as she worked, not stinting on making a deep hole in the soft loamy soil. Zack didn't have to help, which was good, because he really wasn't certain he would have been able to get out of the pit she dug by the time she was finished, nearly an hour and a half later. For her part there was what looked like a gentle hop and she came out of it, rising a good ten feet higher than the ground, smiling a bit.

"Whee. That's the most fun part of being a Vampire. It's almost like flying when you get to cut loose like that. We normally don't get to, since we live so close to town. Kind of a giveaway, people leaping around like that. Most people can't process it, but enough can get a hint of it not being normal, and it can be a pain if they do. For them, mostly. You'd be surprised how devastating the claim that you have Vampires living next door can be to your reputation." She smiled as Zack helped her get Mitch into the hole, just dumping him, then grabbing the shovel he started to fill it in.

That lasted about five minutes, but she didn't make fun of him for trying to help, even though the instant she took over it was clear that all he was doing was wasting their time. It took a lot less to fill the hole than dig it. After she patted the soil down a bit Zack shrugged.

"I don't know what to say, or if Mitch was the kind that would have cared about things like that. I guess... I don't know, I hope that if you go anyplace when you die, that it's someplace happier than here. If it's nothing at all, well, then rest in peace." He bowed his head, since people did that in movies and that was where a lot of his social cues came from. Barb didn't but she nodded after a few seconds and picked up the shovel, resting it on her shoulder.

"No shit. Too bad he couldn't have survived, he was kind of cute." With that ringing endorsement as to his worth, they left, Barb doing the little hopping thing much more easily this time. "I could get used to this. Much more fun when you aren't struggling to pick me up. Talk about a way to make a girl feel fat."

He winced a little, but enough she saw it, her own face going still.

"You aren't, not at all. I just went through months of not really eating and it kind of made me pretty weak. Not that I was ever a muscle man. This is easier for me too. Maybe I should hire you as a porter? You know, you can carry the heavy bags and people for me." It was actually a good idea, even though he couldn't afford to pay her anything yet.

She grinned anyway.

"Alright. You have to clear it with Lenore though and explain that it isn't just code for sleeping with me. Not that we can't do that too, but she won't let me out of work just to have fun. Not often."

If there hadn't just been a murder in his house he would have asked her to stay over when he went to bed about an hour later, after taking a quick shower himself. He got into the new pair of sweats he'd gotten, subdued black things that were just a bit too big for him, counting on the fact that with extra food he was going to be larger soon. With all the physical labor he was doing lately he might even put it on as muscle.

In the morning no one was there and his sofa had been scrubbed of all blood. It left an odd clean patch on it, which was kind of obvious. They'd have to do the rest of it soon or it would look funny. No doubt if a forensics team came in they'd be able to tell it had a blood stain on it under black light or whatever they did. It was a two part process, he thought, first you sprayed it with a chemical, then used the black light, so it was different than what most shows portrayed now. When they'd stop showing the first part he didn't really know, but it used to be there, he was sure.

Lisa wasn't in when he got to work, and he hadn't eaten anything, so he tried to wave to Lenore, who was so busy on the phone she didn't see him at all. That or she was ignoring him. Was she mad at him? He couldn't really think of a reason she should be, so didn't worry about it. If that was the case, she'd no doubt let him know. Possibly by slapping him into a wall, but he'd pick up on the subtle clue of her displeasure one way or the other.

Instead he started sweeping and rearranging the whole store, front facing all the labels and making it look tidy for the day. Only a few costumers came in, but the Christmas music was a lot cheerier and everyone seemed to be happy enough when they talked to him. He gave everyone a discount too, since it wasn't a real store anyway. It was hard to remember that, but it was a real point, as was clearly demonstrated a little after noon when about twenty strangely dressed people came in, asking where the meeting was supposed to be in extremely broken English.