by Sam Kadence
The bed called my name as I hung up for the second time. I crawled back in, Mikka curled up beside me, and I let sleep take me back into more dreams of Kerstrande.
Chapter 6
JOEL got me out of bed. He arrived a little before eleven with a bucket of freshly fried chicken and some excuse about how I needed more protein. The chicken would last me a couple days, and I was as thankful for the free food as I was for the wake-up call. I arrived at the studio just in time.
We performed for a man with dark hair and glasses. He had the sinister, bad-guy look most Japanese anime gave to men with glasses. When I remarked on it to Rob, he just laughed and told me not all people with vision problems were evil.
It wasn’t my best performance. The producer whined about my hair, which was purple. Thankfully I’d found a box of wash-in color under the bathroom sink. The wild color made me feel more normal than I had in days. When Rob argued with them about originality to let me keep the color, I was grateful. He had bitched at me about the heavy black eyeliner before we’d even entered the building but at least supported me in public. If I could have found my colored Sharpie set, my nails would have been purple zebra stripes, but it just would have been more for them to dislike, I guessed.
Mr. Glasses handed us each a folder. “We’re starting from scratch. You’ll have three months to complete fifteen tracks. Ten for the CD, the rest for special releases.” The guy was Aaron Tokie, our new manager. Supposedly he’d managed Triple Flight too. I already missed my old manager.
I pawed through the stack of songs, none of which I’d written, all of which were popular crap. “I didn’t write any of these.”
“So?”
“Evolution has always played my songs. I write the lyrics and the melody and Rob finishes the score.”
“We’re establishing a fan base for you. These songs were written by seasoned songwriters and customized for your group. After two or three CDs, we may be able to add a few of your own pieces.”
Sounded like corporate bullshit to me. And this was why I didn’t want a big label. Devon warned me about how bad they could be, encouraged us to do it on our own. Yet I let this happen despite knowing Devon’s history in the industry. I sighed. Rob and Joel looked so hopeful I bit my tongue to keep from complaining further. How could this cookie-cutter pop crap be better than my stuff?
“We’ve hired a voice coach for you. Feel free to play with the style, and we’ll work out the differences during production.”
I got style choices, how generous. I must have made an unhappy noise ’cause Rob nudged me.
“The Green room is reserved for you to practice.” That was all he said before he ushered us out the door. We found the Green room easy enough. It was named for the label on the door, which said GREEN but wasn’t green and neither was the room. Practicing the music didn’t help. It was crap—stuff I didn’t want to listen to and really didn’t want to sing. Some of the songs were love songs with female pronouns. Did they expect me to pretend I was straight? I took a black Sharpie and changed the wording to make it more universal.
Our only pause was for a fifteen-minute photo shoot for some teen magazine. When I reminded the guys I had to work at seven, they decided to end the day on that note. Joel bought Chinese food, and we ate it sitting on the hood of his Mustang. Rob patted me on the shoulder. “It will work out. We can make the songs our own. Play up the rock.”
Yeah. I’d do it for them. Sighing heavily, I dug into the orange chicken and brown rice. Having rich friends who liked to feed me was probably the best thing about my life at the moment.
“You remember anything more about last night?” Rob asked, sweeping my hair aside to stare at the bruise.
“Yes and no.”
“What’s that mean?” Joel frowned at me, stole a piece of chicken, and ate it before asking, “You get drunk?”
“No. I just don’t know if I dreamt it or not. Everything’s kind of weird.” I stuffed a wonton into my mouth and crunched into the cream cheese center, chewed and swallowed slowly. “’Sides, it’s embarrassing.”
Rob slid closer. “Do tell.”
I growled at him, though it didn’t sound scary even to me.
“Come on, kiddo. We’re pals. And I bought dinner. So talk.” Joel boxed me in on the other side.
The blood that heated my cheeks embarrassed me more than the fragmented memories of last night. It wasn’t like I was a virgin, so why was I blushing? I’d been little more than fifteen when one of the older kids from down the street had introduced me to sex. Cris had shown me how good it could be, and for that I was grateful. “I saw Kerstrande.”
Joel raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t hit him with your car again, did you?”
“No. We went somewhere. I passed out.”
“Why’d you pass out?”
“He kissed me.” It had happened. I’d spent the entire day convincing myself of it. There was too much in my head to ignore.
“That’s weirder than those Japanese comics you read. He probably just sucked on your neck, and you passed out because his vamp powers were too much for you. The old ones can make the feeding good like that,” Joel said as he dug through the fortune cookies. “I read in the paper the other day that more than fifty percent of professional musicians are vampires now. The whole immortality thing, I guess.”
Both Rob and I stared at him. Did he know a lot of vampires? Joel pulled something off his car windshield and glared at it. Had someone been passing out flyers? My car didn’t have one, and I was parked right next to him. He crumpled up the paper in his fist.
“It was probably just a dream,” Rob pointed out. “Genesis is always daydreaming about something. We know how overactive his imagination is.”
It was? I kicked a rock with my shoe. “I doubt it matters anyway. Kerstrande is like a mega star. I’m not even a blip on his radar.”
“I don’t know about that. Looked like you were more than a blip to me. I don’t know how that boy has played straight this long. He looks at you like you’re a piece of candy he wants to unwrap.” Joel handed me a fortune cookie. I took the paper too and threw it on the other seat to be tossed out when I went home. “’Sides, not everyone has to have big-boobed ladies like I do. And you liking the big dog just leaves more of the ladies for me.”
Rob opened the door to my car for me but didn’t say a word. He couldn’t handle it. Never had been able to, really. My best friend, big brother of my heart, and he couldn’t accept who I was. That stung, though it didn’t surprise me. He’d pulled away more and more since I left home to live on my own. Maybe it was because I wasn’t trying so hard to blend in anymore.
A box of orange chicken appeared in my grip when Joel shoved past Rob and pushed the food at me. “Go home, get some rest. Dream of your guitarist idol. Tomorrow we record. You need to be the amazing singer you are, no matter what crap they make you sing. Show Tokie he gave us shit and prove to him the beauty of Evolution.”
“Thanks.” He was right. Joel usually was. He ruffled my hair, and I closed the door. “See you guys tomorrow.”
I tore open the fortune cookie to read the little paper inside. What you seek is right in front of you. No kidding. I pulled out of the lot and headed for work. Sometimes being busy helped clear my head.
CRIS arrived just after midnight. The many turned heads told me he was there before I saw him. He looked like a model: muscles, definition, perfect hair, and black liner around his eyes, which met mine halfway across the room and lit up with joy. I smiled back. He was one of the only people I knew whose aura’s colors changed when he saw me. It was nice to know I affected someone that way. Now only if I could do that to Kerstrande, things would be grand.
Cris gathered me into a strong hug, all shoulders and long arms. God, he had a body to dream about. We stayed that way for a few moments. I breathed in the scent of him. His otherworldliness gave me a few seconds of total calm. Whether he had powers like me, or was something other than human, didn’t m
atter. We were two sides to the same coin. Occasional lovers who cared for each other—just not enough. I wished I actually loved him.
He brushed the hair away from my neck. “Wow, good color.”
I grinned. “Yeah, if only I could turn my hair those colors.”
“I brought some salve.” He pulled me toward the employee locker room, the only semiprivate place in the whole building. Once inside, his expression became one of great concentration. “You feeling okay?”
“Tired, but okay. Why?” What did he see that I missed?
Cris pulled a little tub of some goo with green flakes in it out of his pocket. The stuff smelled minty. He soothed it on the bruise. The spot tingled for a few minutes but wasn’t unpleasant. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I’m always careful.” That pale gaze seemed to bore right into me. I looked away. Why couldn’t I love him? Even as beautiful as he was, I knew he cared for me. Why couldn’t there be rainbows and starlight with him? He got me, never doubted my powers, never talked down to me. I sighed.
“You never do anything halfway.”
“I don’t know what you mean by that.”
He just gave me that million-dollar smile of his and kissed my forehead. “And that’s what I love best about you.”
Kerstrande
STANDING in the corner of a gay bar hidden in shadows made me feel a lot like a stalker. My sire often followed his prey this way, but I didn’t want to think of Genesis as prey. I just wanted to think of him. Watching him move had made me painfully hard. He danced to the music with a grace most men would never master. He smiled at everyone, even when turning them away. And I’d watched more than a half dozen ask him to dance or for other more intimate things.
When the brunet came in, the whole room had turned to stare. It wasn’t just his appearance, which was enough to make any Hollywood model feel inadequate, but his bearing screamed of confidence and pride.
When his arms wrapped around Gene like he owned the kid, I’d had to grip the wall to keep from crossing the room and tearing him apart. And then had come the text from my sire: Park 12:30.
I watched the skunk-head go into a backroom with Gene. My brain and body fought which way to move. Go after the kid or follow directions from my sire? Dammit!
I finally left when the brunet came out a few minutes later wishing the kid a good night. Neither looked mussed up like sex could do, not even swollen lips. But I didn’t get in my car until the other one did. I’d have to talk to Gene about his clothes, or lack thereof. Though the hair and the eyes, those I liked. Something about the liner made his lashes look even bigger, and the purple shadow…. I sighed. I really needed to stop obsessing.
When I finally found my way to the Park, anger was rolling off me in waves. Why did my sire want this meeting anyway? What right did he have to demand anything from me? Just because he was my sire, maker, and tormentor? We’d gone our separate ways years back. I owed him nothing, not allegiance, not obedience; well, maybe he deserved a good kick in the head.
I ripped the cigarette from my lips and ground it into the wood of a bench, only to immediately regret it and light another. Inhale, hold, exhale, repeat. Deep breaths. The smoke did little to ease the rage of the monster inside. Nicotine had no affect anymore, but old habits die hard. Damn him for taking that from me too.
I dropped down onto the bench as a patrolman walked by tipping his hat slightly. “Evening, sir.”
Keep walking.
The man’s shoulders tensed, but he moved on. People were easy to control, especially when the anger was this strong.
“Takes a lot of guts to vamp a cop, pup.”
I turned to scowl at my sire, Hane Lewis, former fellow bandmate and bane of my existence. The selfish prick looked younger than he had four years ago. Only full feedings did that. Stealing the lives of others. Wasn’t sixteen forever young enough for him? Humans mattered little to him, though he took a great amount of pride in seducing them. Male, female, a mix of both. Only the conquest mattered to him—that and their final death. I’d witnessed enough of that to fill ten lifetimes.
“You get caught and they’ll stake you, old-fashioned-like. Maybe you’d enjoy that.”
A few weeks ago I would have said yes. Any end to the life he’d cursed me with would have been great. But not anymore. Not when I kept thinking of amethyst eyes and pink hair.
“Why don’t you check out first, send me a postcard from hell. Let me know when the pool is ready.”
My tormentor growled and stepped forward.
“Do it!” I dared him. We’d played this game for years. His threats without follow through. “Game over. I’m ready.” If I was going now, it’d be in one hell of a fight. If I could, I’d take the heartless monster with me.
“Are you? I thought you wanted this.” He tossed a newspaper clipping into my lap and waited. He hadn’t come for old-fashioned fisticuffs after all. The article was about Genesis and Evolution joining REA and the suspicions of our relationship. Press never missed much, and they certainly hadn’t missed the way that kid looked at me.
“What do you want?” I finally asked.
He grabbed the clipping and waved it. “This to go away.”
“The group? Or the suspicion that I’m doing him?”
He looked thoughtful. “He is a pretty little thing. Bet he tastes good too.”
“He’s mine.”
“He’s in my territory.”
So this wasn’t about the press. This was about tormenting me. “I moved when you changed the lines. He and I met in my territory.”
“You should have taken him with you.”
I ground the cigarette into my palm. The pain helped keep the rage from completely blackening my sight. If that happened I’d die or kill a bunch of innocent folks when my sire disappeared like the smoke he seemed to be.
The faint scent in the air of incense and rain spiked my pulse and bit through the pain. No way could I lose Genesis yet. “I marked him twice. He’s mine.” We couldn’t fight about this. I’d lose. “I’ll move him now.”
A bitter smile etched Hane’s lips. He was really enjoying this. Shadows pooled around his eyes, making the demon rise to the surface. Crap. The kid really did see what we were. Would he stick around if he knew about the monster inside?
In a flash, a hand gripped my throat and slammed me against the pavement. He held me there with little effort. I had to remind myself I didn’t need to breathe. “He’s in my territory. Means he’s mine now.”
I managed to nod, and he let go.
“There’s a good boy.”
Bastard. I bit my lip to keep from snarking at him. The wind carried the aroma of incense and rain to me. I prayed for a while, waiting for him to get bored with my lack of response and go. Finally, he straightened, towering over me like the specter he was. He’d been dead a lot longer than me, probably a couple centuries. I think it was the passage of time that really made him inhuman, rather than his need for blood. He’d forgotten what it felt like to be alive, to feel. I didn’t want that.
And for all he demanded, he didn’t factor in the unknown of the equation. Genesis wasn’t normal. My tricks didn’t work on him. He saw things no one else saw. So how likely was it that anything Hane did would work on him? But then Anya had seen things too. She hadn’t deserved what she got. Genesis was a good kid. He didn’t need my kind of trouble. Even if I couldn’t help but be drawn to him.
The clipping burst into flames and fluttered to my feet. The last bit to be consumed was Gene’s bright, smiling image. The fire licked the bottom of my pants before dying under the strong night breeze. Finally Hane vanished, whistling a cheerful tune. I cursed the bastard and rose to meet my next confrontation of the evening.
The attack left me hungry and angry again, as black-edged clouds dimmed my vision. It wouldn’t be hard to convince the kid he didn’t want me. If I could save one at least, please God, let me save this one.
Chapter 7
&nb
sp; Genesis
A THIN curl of cigarette smoke hovered over the bench I’d sat at last night. Kerstrande dangled a lit stick from his lips. His arms were spread across the back of the bench, eyes closed. He appeared relaxed, like nothing in the world could bother him, but his eyes were covered in shadows again. They writhed like a swarm of earthworms on top of his face. How did that feel to him? Was it internal? Or did he feel them at all?
“You gonna stare all night, or do you want something from me? I bet if you take a picture you can sell it to a tabloid for some gas money.” His voice made me jump a half foot in the air.
I crawled onto the bench beside him, perched on the edge so as not to get too close to that mass of moving darkness. “Are you okay?”
“As okay as I ever am. Why do you care?”
“What about last night? I only remember bits and pieces of it. I want to remember more. What happened?” I was no virgin, but I didn’t feel like we’d had sex. That didn’t mean we didn’t do something. The bruise on my neck ached now that I was close to him again. Was he biting me? What had Rob said about hickeys? Maybe I should have asked Cris.
His shoulders stiffened. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I kissed you, you kissed me. We went somewhere. I got fuzzy.”
Kerstrande finally turned his head to face me. I sucked in a deep breath. He looked like a skeleton, worms munching away at the non-existent flesh. “You’re delusional. Don’t cast your sexual fantasies on me.”
“What are you?” I asked him. I’d never seen anything like it before. It was terrifying and beautiful all at once. The dark spots moved, collided, creating small ripples of colorful little rainbows like those you’d see in puddles when oil had leaked from a car.
“What the hell are you is the better question. Looking at me like I’m some kind of freak show when you have purple hair and see pixies in the road at night.”
