by T. J. Quinn
Squeezing tighter around his neck, Faran pulled him forward and hurled him to the ground. Since the Kalian was almost twice his size and had hands the size of his head, there wasn’t a good chance Squeaky would come out unscathed in a physical altercation with his longtime friend.
“Humans are all different, and not all of them prefer vampires. Josh is pissed about you tossing him aside. Making you jealous is his way of getting even.” Coming to his feet, Squeaky tried to dust his clothing off. He could feel a trickle of blood ooze from his bottom lip. “The real question is why do keep letting him get to you?”
“I don’t…I…shouldn’t. I’m sorry.”
Shaking his head, Squeaky looked at his still seething friend. “You are forgiven. Why don’t you go burn off some steam, before you go another round with our smart-mouthed leader?”
Sighing, Faran slapped at an overhanging sign, jutting out from the side of the building. “I suppose you’re right. Thanks for not going off on me.”
“You two are going to need to work your shit out, before one of gets mangled in the middle.”
Snatching up his bag of blood, Squeaky headed into the warehouse.
Taking one look at him, Josh threw his cards down on the table and cursed under his breath. “I swear that dumb ass Kalian is going to be the fucking death of me.” Turning to him, Josh spoke up in a frustrated voice. “Just stay the hell away from Faran when he’s pissed. God, you should know that by now, Squeaky.”
Shaking his head, Squeaky waved away the attention. “Faran is harmless. He just likes to shout it out when he is angry. You know, for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. If you make him angry, he is going to show it. What exactly did you think was going to happen when pushed him too far, Joshua?”
Josh stared at his hand like it had suddenly grown another finger, making it the most fascinating appendage in the entire world.
Squeaky opinioned quietly. “The humans have a saying about flies and honey. Perhaps you have heard of it.”
Storming out the door, Josh appeared a slightly panicked. Little John followed him.
Squeaky murmured, “Yes, do go that before our impulsive friend is balls deep in his next conquest.
Squeaky sat down beside Alek, took out a bag of synthetic blood, and stuck the straw that came with it into the correct spot. He held it up, nodding. “Thank you, my thirst is great.”
Sitting with their clearly confused guest, Squeaky smiled slightly. Handing him a half-liter Synthetic blood bag, Squeaky spoke casually. “I do not know what you did to these people, but they seem unsure what they should do with you. I am not certain you are safe with the Kalian. I will try to stay with you, my vampire brother, but if he wants to harm you, as you can see, I am no match for him.”
The man lifted up his chain. “If not for these, I would be more than a match for him.”
“Trust me, they know exactly what you could do if you weren’t chained. It’s why they chose to drop you using the large animal tranq before they took you. It’s also why they are never going to take the chains off until they decide what to do with you.”
The other man nodded his understanding, sending his dark shoulder length hair falling over his shoulder. Alex Shardon had an impressive war record and had received several Medals of Honor for his marksmanship skills, battle tactics, and something called valor in battle.
Squeaky, put his finger on the scanning plate on his wrist cuff and nothing happened. The man glanced up, and he clarified, “Just in case you were wondering, I cannot open your cuffs.”
The other man’s clear blue eyes gazed into his. “Can you get word to the police?”
Squeaky frowned, shaking his head. “Not if I want to live. The syndicate we work for has informants at the police station. Honestly, he would know immediately if I betrayed him.”
Sighing, Mr. Shardon sipped another drink of his Synth-B before responding thoughtfully. “I am wealthy. Perhaps I can buy my way out of this mess.”
Smiling faintly, Squeaky replied. “They do love money, my friend.”
Little Joe came back within an hour to relieve him. Squeaky felt terrible for the vampire humans did not know what to do with. He racked his brains to figure out a way out of this situation for the both of them.
Squeaky spent the entire next day looking for work that would make his wife proud. He pulled up the data stream associated with employment needs in the area and began searching for respectable job. He communicated with several potential employers and spoke to one in person. He could not see himself being happy working for a meat packing plant, but he would take whatever got him into honest employment.
Heading home early, he spent time with his wife after she got off work. They planted flowers along their walk, and he trimmed their shrubs with his laser trimmer in a delicate formation that pleased her. He sighed as he realized that it really didn’t matter what they were doing together; as long as they were together, they were happy. This could be his life if only he weren’t tied to the syndicate.
Chapter 4
Don’t Name It or
You Won’t Want to Kill It
Squeaky woke up the next morning and was delighted to find the vampire’s disappearance was still at the top of the news feed. Squeaky would at least be able to share that with the poor man and perhaps it would give him hope.
When Squeaky came into the warehouse, Josh and Little Jo were sleeping. One was lying on the table, and the other was leaning back against the wall. The vampire no one knew what to do with was leaning against the wall, asleep as well. His chains were still in place. He dropped one bag of Synth-B in the cooler and brought the other one with him to sit with the vampire the humans did not know what to do with.
Squeaky whispered, “Mr. Shardon, I brought you a data stream so you can see the news. Many are looking for you. Have hope, my brother, the police will soon come for you.” He laid the electronic pad on his lap so he could read the news articles and went to retrieve the blood bag. He slowly fed the blood bag to Alek as he read.
Alek glanced up from the news feed and said pleasantly, “Please, call me Alek.”
Josh woke up, reprimanding Squeaky earnestly. “Don’t get attached to the hostage. You know there’s at least a 50% chance we are going to have to kill him. I grew up on a farm, and I can tell you that once you name them, you won’t want to kill them. I don’t like this situation any better than you do, but we have a job to do here.” Josh sounded a little exasperated.
Squeaky could see the pain and the conflict in Josh’s eyes even as he spoke the words, and he wondered how someone with a conscience fell into this type of work. Perhaps, like him, Josh wanted out as well.
The Kalian came in about four hours later. For no apparent reason, the Kalian walked right over and began kicking their guest in the legs and hit him in the face with his fist. That was when Squeaky noticed his eyes were black again. Faran was normally a very cause and effect kind of man. Squeaky knew Mr. Shardon could not have provoked him because the man had been sitting in the corner in chains all morning. I was unclear what provoked such anger in their friend.
It took both Josh and Little Jo both to pull Faran off.
Josh was furious. “Did you not hear me say that I don’t want a scratch on his skin? Unless you have a kill order, you need to just get the hell out of here.”
The Kalian shoved Josh a step back and said, “I have been working with you for four long years, and all you do is disrespect me constantly. Now you treat the vampire hostage respectfully. There is only one of us who is stupid here, and it is not me.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“There have been many times when I was the only reason you walked off a job alive. You humans love your vampires better than any other species because you are too foolish to realize that, to them, you are just food.”
“You know something, Faran, in all the time I’ve known you, I’ve never let you down. I’ve always had your back and yet, yo
u’re never anything but obnoxious and difficult. I think it’s the way with your kind. All you do is complain, eat anything that doesn’t eat you first, and have sex with anything that stands still long enough.”
Faran sounded earnest in his reply. “I am a Kalian male, and I must mate. I never force myself on others. Can I help it if many are attracted to me? I try to be accommodating to as many partners as possible. Where I come from, that is called being considerate.”
Josh yelled back, “Well, on earth, it is called being a man whore.”
Faran seemed shocked speechless by this revelation.
Squeaky kind of tuned them out and kneeled down to check on Mr. Shardon.
“Are you alright?”
“Of course. It would take more than being mishandled by a Kalian to inflict real damage on a Vampire prime. What’s up with those two?”
“I wish I knew. They are proving to be more distracting than helpful lately.”
*****
Squeaky went to check on his vampire brother several times a day over the next seven days, left the bottled water, encouraged him to stay hydrated, and gave him a container to relieve himself in.
After turning the situation over in his mind, he thought he may just have to take the hit on this one. Dropping down onto the floor beside Mr. Shardon, Squeaky handed him a Synth-B pouch. He seemed to have something to say, so Alek waited patiently for him to spit it out.
“I have decided that if there is a time when we are here alone I will try to free you. I think they will not trust me alone with you because we are both vampires. If they think you tried to escape and I didn’t put up a good fight, they will probably kill me and perhaps my wife as well. If I can manage to free you, then you will have to beat me very, very badly, so they will think I really tried to do my job. I am sorry.”
“That sounds very painful for you.”
“I have promised myself to try to become a better person, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I think Josh’s estimation of your survival chances being fifty percent was probably not very accurate. I believe they will eventually terminate your life. This is the only solution I can think of to get you safely away from these people while minimizing the danger to my family. Is this plan acceptable to you?”
A crease formed between his brows and Mr. Shardon replied thoughtfully, “I am desperate to be free and worried about the safety of my children, but I cannot agree. That plan of action sounds dangerous for both of us, and there’s no guarantee your employers will refrain from harming your wife. If they have made such threats before, they may harm her out of spite. Humans are very emotional creatures. We must always remember that.”
Squeaky sighed, and before he could speak, Mr. Shardon stated, “I have a better idea. Why don’t you contact a hunter and alert them that I am willing to pay a handsome amount for an impromptu rescue.”
Squeaky pondered the suggestion out loud. “That would get us both out of danger. Hunters are always looking for missing people, particularly wealthy ones. Everyone would think they hunted you down for the reward. It’s standing firm at a hundred grand right now.”
“No one would blame you if a really prominent hunter came knocking. They wouldn’t expect your crew to be able to stand up to a professional. The syndicate would most likely chalk it up to underestimating my worth.”
“This idea is better than any of the ones I came up with on my own.”
“Have you heard of Dakota Davenport?”
“Hell yes, she’s amazing. My nephew has a poster of her on his bedroom wall. She has a success rate of a hundred percent and is good about searching for missing vampires. Even though she’s human, she is the go-to person when… oh, I see where you’re going with this conversation. You want me to contact her on your behalf.”
Nodding, Mr. Shardon chewed his bottom lip. “I think she will take the case because we are acquainted.”
Squeaky’s mount dropped open in sheer shock. “You actually know Dakota Davenport? Like know her, know her?”
“Yes. We travel in the same circles. Whenever we’re at a formal function, I always manage to get a little face time and dance or two from her.”
“Wow.”
“What’s more, her teenage son is the preferred feeding partner for my young daughter.”
“Gods of chaos, you’re practically related.”
“Miss. Dakota has a strained relationship with her son. I am not certain she is aware of their relationship.”
“You still feel confident she will hunt for you?”
“Yes. I must caution you, if you speak to her directly, someone might notice. She is in the public eye. What with the press and her many admirers, I can’t imagine much of what she does goes unnoticed.”
“What is the best way to reach out to her?”
“I wish you to speak to her son, Jared. He will engage her on my behalf, I’m certain of it.”
“I agree to this request, and pray it is the best for both our sakes.”
“God’s speed, my friend. You can find him at The Advent Home for Children.”
Pushing up from his sitting position, Squeaky headed straight for the door. He was eager to see to put this whole business behind him.
