“B, looks like you are going to miss the earlier showing of the new vampire romance movie. I guess you’ll have to catch the 7:50 showing, but that gives you time to eat a nice dinner, right?” I really wanted to wait and watch the new vampire flick with DeeDee. However, I knew I would see it again with her since we always watch the paranormal or supernatural shows that come out. There was no way I was going to drive in that rotten rush hour traffic.
“Of course, I am sooo gonna have a steak dinner instead of movie theatre hot dogs. Remember that steak house we went to before I moved to the O.C?”
“Yeah, that was a great steak. I guess I could come visit you after work, and we can do dinner there once a month like we used to.” I pushed aside the thoughts of loneliness I knew I would feel working in LA. As before, DeeDee and I would find ways to hang out. She was the most important person in my life and I couldn’t imagine going more than a day without talking to her.
“That my friend, sounds like a great plan.” I continued to chat about my interview while I walked to the restaurant. “I’ll call you after the movie and let you know how it is.”
◊◊◊
Downtown Los Angeles, California
A group of five athletically built males stood inside the meeting room of a nondescript warehouse in Downtown L.A., not too far from Skid Row.
“You should have seen it! I had three rippers coming at me and I used that new technique I learned last week to take them all down! The first ripper came at me with nothing but his bare hands and I flipped him over my shoulder and quickly jabbed my knife into his heart. Then I had to pull out my sword as the other two rushed me at the same time. I kicked out at one blood sucker and knocked him back while stabbing the other in his gut. While he was still on my sword he reached out to grab my neck but I evaded his razor-like hands and pulled another knife out and got him right in the eye! The third was simple after that.” The young warrior puffed out his chest and nodded to his comrades.
They were discussing fighting techniques and how they each had taken down their enemies in the past week.
Just then a very good looking middle-aged male, with long blonde hair that covered up secret about what he really was, walked into the room. His eyes were as blue as the ocean and commanded everyone’s attention. This imposing warrior was over six feet tall and dressed in the same black leather gear as the other warriors in the room.
“Gentlemen, please be quiet and take a seat. We need to get started with this meeting, or we will be here all night long discussing our prowess in the field,” their commander said as ten of his warriors took their seats around a long, wooden table.
“However, we have more important things to discuss. Like how the enemy keeps grabbing humans right in the middle of the street, and no one sees a thing!” The Commander said as he pounded his fist on the table.
All of the water bottles tipped over due to the force of his fist, while the pens bounced up and down a couple of times. The warriors scrambled to pick up their water before any papers where ruined from the sloshing liquid.
“We need to up our patrols of the city every night and figure out how they are grabbing their victims and leaving no evidence.”
Lancer, the leader of the squad, stood up and looked right at the commander as he said, “Sir, we have gathered intelligence from the local police, but they are even more clueless than we are. We, at least, discovered that there were a few blood spots in the areas where the humans were last reported to be seen.” Lancer walked to the head of the table next to the commander.
“But we still aren’t able to find their lair, or how they are disappearing without anyone seeing which way they went.” Lancer said while running his hand through his black hair. It reached to just below his jacket collar and reflected the length of every warrior’s in the room. They all wore their hair down and not tied back. It seemed to be a standard length for all of the men. However, it didn’t follow any standard human military edict.
“Lancer, hand out the files. We all need to review them again. See if there is anything similar about them. We know most are young women, aged eighteen to late twenties, and a few males in the same age range. Why only a few males? Where they able to fight off the attackers better? I have so many questions and very few answers.” The Commander handed a stack of files to Lancer.
“Alright, let’s pair up and review several files each. Hopefully, with two sets of eyes on each one we can figure this out.” Lancer walked around the table giving five files to each set of investigators.
This meeting went on for several more hours. Once they finally finished everything on their agenda it was after 10pm.
“Listen up. We are all going out tonight together. After reviewing your notes, it seems there is one area where multiple women were last seen. I want us all to check out the alleys in that area. Each of the abductions took place in, or near, an alley. We’ll start with a standard grid pattern and move out from here.” Lancer pointed to a spot on a map. He stood up and led his men to the weapons room to suit up.
◊◊◊◊
B’Lana - 2 Blocks From The Warehouse
I texted DeeDee that I just got out of the movie and it was not anywhere near the quality of what we usually watched. I felt she would be disappointed in the plot and the lack of other paranormal or supernatural creatures that usually play in our favorite movies. I told her that we could talk about it the next day.
While walking the six blocks to my car, I noticed a group of guys heading across the street. They looked strange, but I couldn’t be sure since it was so dark outside, and the light from the streetlamps wasn’t very bright.
So I did what any normal girl would do, I called my best friend to chat about it. “DeeDee, you aren’t going to believe what I’m looking at right now!”
“What? Do you see a movie star? Ooohhhh, is Chris Hemsworth there? I loved him in Thor and can’t wait for the next movie!” DeeDee sighed, which caused me to picture Chris Hemsworth in his Thor costume.
I blinked and shook my head. “No, silly. I see a group of seriously hot guys, like models or actors, in costume or something. I’m not sure if they are heading to a party or a movie set.”
“Well, don’t just stand there, follow them!”
“Yeah right, like a stalker?”
“Of course you’re not a stalker. You’re just curious about their costumes, and if they’re part of a movie shoot or something, right?” DeeDee started laughing after she said that, which only made me feel more stalkerish.
“Okay DeeDee, I’m gonna check them out.” I looked around to make sure no one heard me admit to being a stalker.
“Make sure to send me photos of them too,” DeeDee chuckled. “Wait, are they in plain sight? Just be sure to stay out in the open and don’t follow them down any dark alleyways or anything.”
“They’re on the sidewalk of a pretty busy street right now. Oh! One just looked at me and I think he smiled.” I couldn’t help the smile that formed on my face in response to him.
I crossed the street so that I was in front of them. I didn’t want them to think I was trailing them or anything. When I came up to the corner at the next intersection, I stopped and looked into the window of the business on my right, hoping to use the glare of the window to get a look at them.
The guys were talking in low voices about the meeting they just exited and none of it made much sense to me. “Alright, we are only a few blocks from the area I marked on your maps. You five go to area B,” he pointed to five of the guys with him, “and the rest of us will head over to A. Keep your eyes open. If you notice anything weird, or someone stalking down a dark alley, call me.”
“Lancer, should we be worried about any of the humans noticing us?” another guy asked.
“No, ignore them. Just don’t let them get taken,” the guy they called Lancer responded.
I wondered why they were calling people humans. Then I got a better look at them and wondered if they were human. I turned slightly s
o I could get a better look and noticed that one of them was so handsome, he reminded me of Orlando Bloom. It made me want to get closer. Yes, he looked a lot like the fae warrior version of Orlando Bloom, I thought as I almost tripped on the broken sidewalk.
“Yikes!” I said a bit too loudly. Oh, how embarrassing. I sure hoped no one saw me almost fall while I was ogling those guys. I was even wearing my favorite black Skechers with my most comfortable blue jeans and a black Star Wars shirt, so there was no excuse for tripping.
There were five guys after they split up into two groups. The first guy I noticed had caramel colored skin with long, dark brown hair that fell in waves to the man’s shoulders. Oh, how I wanted to run my fingers through that gorgeous mane of hair! While I couldn’t get a good enough look at his face, I guessed he was close to twenty-three. He was a little young for me. Momma didn’t raise no cougar! I thought.
Well, maybe for him I would consider it…
Then I got a good look at the rest of the guys he was with, they were all dressed up in black leather, like some kind of black ops warriors from a movie. I shrugged my shoulders as I considered the fact that I was in Los Angeles after all. Hollywood filmed all over the city on a regular basis.
These guys were extremely good looking. I could not stop thinking about how handsome they were. DeeDee would be making fun of me right about now if she were here with me. She would probably say something along the lines of, “You know B, McHotty’s have hearts too. You shouldn’t just be concerned with their bodies. What about their minds?” Then we would bust up laughing and continue talking about their physical assets.
Aaaahhh, if only DeeDee had come to meet me for dinner and a movie after my interview. This would be so much more fun if she were here, I silently mused.
Maybe it was a photo shoot with hunky male models? What about that Comic-Con that was going on at the convention center? I let them enter the crosswalk before I slowly followed them. I hoped I might get to watch either a movie being filmed or some crazy photo shoot.
Wouldn’t DeeDee just love a bunch of photos from some crazy new male cologne photo shoot or something? I thought to myself as I continued to follow them down the street.
His friends all looked young as well, ranging from maybe 18 to 24. When they walked under a bright street light I noticed they all had pointy ears and were carrying weapons.
One had what looked to be a katana sword. The McHotty I noticed earlier had two swords strapped to his back that were curved. And the other three had long knives attached to their belts. Two looked to also have guns under their black jackets, but I couldn’t be sure that was what those bulge’s were.
“Hmm, this seems a little strange, even for a photo or movie shoot. Where are the wardrobe people, other actors, or even a director?” As I continued to whisper I realized I really needed to stop talking to myself. Even if I am in L.A. people are going to wonder about my sanity.
I kept following them, even after they passed where I parked my car. I decided that I really wanted to see what they were up to. And I still needed to get a photo to send to DeeDee.
All five guys turned down an alley, so I peeked around the corner hoping to see what they were up to. I couldn’t believe my eyes at first. This wasn’t a film set. That’s when I realized I made a huge mistake following these guys…
Do you want to finish this story? Come to my website to see when the new version of Book 1, Eclipse of the Warrior will be out! http://jlhendricksauthor.com/home/
Eclipse of the Beginning Page 5
