by D. D. Syrdal
With Neko staying in the guest room he wouldn’t be able to bring anyone home for a night, and his feedings would have to be outside, perfunctory. The next evening Andrej and Neko prepared to head out together, planning to spend at least part of the night just enjoying the nightclub scene in the city. The occasions for socializing were few and far between for them, although they weren’t much given to reminiscing. Looking back over too many years was suffocating. The weight of all the many memories of lost family and friends, so much time, was like lighting a fuse on a bomb, and a vampire with a fragile mental state can cause more than his own ruin. Andrej no longer allowed himself to dwell on the past. Centuries of practice had given him the discipline to avoid falling into nostalgia or regrets.
“So, where to, my friend?” Neko asked Andrej as they stood on the sidewalk, before entering the stream of humanity going in either direction.
“What was that club you used to like so much? With the pool tables.”
“Oh yeah, that was over in Praha 4. I don’t remember the name of it, but I bet I could find it again. Cab?”
Andrej flagged down a cab and gave the driver a rough description of the nightclub they had frequented years ago. Without knowing if it even existed anymore they made their way through the city, giving the driver directions as they went as to where to turn and as much detail as they could remember. They reached the section of the city they thought it was in, and drove up and down for a bit, trying to recall details. Andrej stopped the cab and suggested they get out and walk.
“Might be easier to see it if we don’t go by so fast,” he said.
The neighborhood had changed little since they were last there together, but after so many years the details were fuzzy, even for them. Eventually they found themselves outside a theater that neither one remembered.
“Well, maybe it’s gone,” Neko said, looking up at the marquee, then glancing up and down the street. He stood back a bit, just watching the crowds and where people were headed. After a moment he raised his hand to block the glare of the theater sign from his eyes and noticed a small dark door next to the theater entrance that kept opening to allow people to enter and exit. People that looked a lot like Neko: a rough crowd, bikers mostly.
“Bingo,” he said, grinning.
The bar was still there, built into the backside of the theater. The entrance had been moved but the tiny sign over the door said “Lounge.” They entered and followed the long dark hallway which went on for a block before finally emptying into a dimly lit, smoky bar. The room was larger than Andrej would have thought possible from outside, and the place was busy. Tables were full everywhere they looked, the pool tables all had games going on. Neko grinned and took off his dark glasses.
“Ah,” he said, “feels like home.” He looked at Andrej with a smile and headed for the bar at the back.
The place drew a rougher crowd than Andrej typically sought out. These were no goth kids. This was a more seasoned crowd, older, hardened. Andrej and Neko looked younger than any of the other patrons. Andrej in particular looked almost cherubic with his clean-shaven face and innocent eyes. Neko exchanged a few quiet words with the bartender. He ordered two whiskeys and when they had their drinks he indicated with a nod of his head for Andrej to follow him around to the back, behind the bar where they went through a small door that led down another hallway. At the first door on the left Neko tapped three times. The door opened to a room with five tables, all full, with people engaged in various card games. It was strangely quiet, there was little conversation and what there was was subdued. The sound of poker chips being tossed on tables, the clicking and whirring of cards being shuffled, glasses clinking on trays as wait staff picked up empties and dropped off refills were the only sounds in the room. It was far enough back from the main club that the sound of the music from the front was muffled, hardly audible.
Andrej and Neko walked up to the bar inside the card room and stood with their drinks. Andrej looked around the room, taking note of one or two faces, and another vampire. They locked eyes for an instant, the other sensing Andrej at the same time.
“Damn, city’s getting crowded,” he remarked.
“If this keeps up we’re going to have to organize a union.” Neko stared across the room absently, half paying attention to a poker game in progress. “Yeah, I heard he was in town. A lot of us are in town for our taxes.”
The demonic creature Andrej had met with in Slovakia seemed to have a full schedule this summer, he thought. Neko had sensed the other vampire but hadn’t bothered to look over and acknowledge him. He had quit caring about social interactions, and other vampires were just competition as far as he was concerned.
“You know him?”
“Nah, never met him, but I hear things. I find it useful to keep tabs on who’s coming and going.”
Andrej knew the other vampire, or more accurately knew of him, although like Neko had never met him. The two of them remained at the bar, watching the tables and waiting for a seat to open up. Neko wanted to play a few hands, but Andrej was already growing bored.
“Still not a gambler, eh?” Neko asked with a grin.
“No, my friend, I find other pursuits more entertaining.”
Neko chuckled. “True, true. Can’t argue with that. Still, every once in a while I like to fleece a few of them.”
“It’s not very sporting, when you can read their minds,” Andrej chided mockingly.
“That’s why I never stay long.”
It wasn’t long before a seat opened up at the table with the other vampire who nodded to the empty seat to indicate to Neko to join them.
“Well, well, this could be a bit of a challenge after all. I guess it’s a good thing we can’t read each other’s minds the way we do mortals’. It’d take all the fun out of it,” he said to Andrej, and sauntered over to the table.
Andrej finished his drink and headed back out to the main barroom. He ordered another drink and wandered over to watch a pool game, all the while keeping his eyes moving around the room, surreptitiously looking for his evening meal. Not many prospects in this place for anyone with discerning tastes, although… He considered the possibility of finding his next sacrificial kill, although there was plenty of time before his next day of reckoning. No reason to rush into anything. Still, if an opportunity presented itself he could hardly pass it up. Perhaps Neko’s arrival was fortuitous. He certainly wouldn’t have visited this particular bar without him.
It wasn’t long before he accepted the offer of a game of pool. He shot well, breaking and sinking two. He didn’t like to let anyone feel like they weren’t doing well, so he played well enough, but not too well. Better to let them think they had a chance of winning before he finished the game. By the second game his opponent was beginning to think he’d been hustled. He played a third to let the man recoup some of his losses while waiting for Neko, who eventually emerged from the back. Apparently he’d collected enough for the evening, both in winnings and information from the other vampire, to feel it was time to move on. He caught Andrej’s eye just as he was sinking the final ball. His opponent didn’t look too pleased but took his losses. Neko had to stifle a laugh. Andrej bought the man and his friends a round of drinks before leaving to soften the blow, just in case they wanted to come back here again.
“So? What did you find out?” Andrej asked Neko once they were outside.
“His name’s Samuel, just passing through on his way. He’s based out of the UK these days, some tiny little town in the north of England, ruined abbey.”
Andrej looked at Neko incredulously, then burst out laughing.
Neko shrugged, grinning. “Some people’s kids, whaddyagonna do?” he said, clapping Andrej on the back. “All right, I’m hungry. Let’s get a bite.”
They threaded their way down the street, not quite together but within sight of each other. When they worked together one kept watch for the other during the actual feeding. It had been a long time, but they fell back into the pattern without
a word, each knowing what part to play. Neko was the first to find a victim, and quickly subdued her mind, steering her into an alley. There was virtually no light at all in this one, to his advantage. Neko was able to navigate around the debris and trash that littered either side, making their way far enough back to be completely unseen by anyone passing by on the street, while Andrej followed for a way and kept his eyes on the street traffic passing by.
“No kills tonight, all right?” he said to Neko. “We’ve already got crusaders in town watching us. If the body count starts climbing I’ll have to move again, and I’d rather not.”
“Yeah, ok, no problem. This’ll just be an appetizer then.” The girl was completely under, and unaware of anything. Neko didn’t bother with the seduction that Andrej worked on his victims. It was a quick feeding, a pint of blood more or less. They got the girl back out to the end of the alley, and onto the sidewalk where she had been before he released her mind. She woke up, woozy and staggering.
“Whoa, whoa,” Neko said, catching her before she fell. “Looks like you should head home,” he told her. She was shaken, uncertain what had happened.
“How much did you take?” Andrej asked.
“Not enough to do that.”
“Let’s get her home, then. Was she with anyone?”
“I don’t think so. Sweetheart, did you have any friends with you tonight?” Neko asked the girl.
She shook her head, still a little unclear as to what was going on.
“Shit.” Neko looked at Andrej. A cab pulled up while they were talking, and as Neko growled, he guided the girl into the waiting cab, then climbed in with her. “I’ll catch up with you later,” he said, and the cab drove off.
On his own again, Andrej hailed another cab and headed back to the other side of town, to the clubs he preferred. He could have shifted into his other form and flown, but tonight he preferred to be grounded. If any of the crusaders were still tailing him as he expected they were, seeing him get around by cab could help to throw them off balance a bit.
Chapter 14
