“A guy like me?”
“Yeah, you’re always watching the news. Guys that watch the news this much don’t usually do interesting things to make the news. I mean, you’re a semi-retired stock trader. That’s pretty boring to me. No offense.”
Nick chuckled. “None taken. I suppose on paper I do sound rather dull.”
“Yeah, and I haven’t noticed you bringing any ladies to your apartment, since I’ve been working for you. That’s pretty surprising, since you’re a pretty good looking guy with money and all,” she suddenly looked up at him with a blush. “Oh, I’m sorry, sir.”
Patting the air, the man soothed her with, “You can just call me, Nick. Noting a dry spell, doesn’t make me a ‘sir’, Geni. And yes, I get it. I seem boring to a young, college girl.”
“Oh, I don’t think your that boring, Nicky,” the girl’s smile came out like the sun again. “You probably go out and do all kinds of things, though I am still a bit surprised that you hired a housekeeper. I would think you’d have enough time to clean, if you wanted.”
Again he laughed, as he sat opening his laptop taking a seat on the couch. “If I wanted. I don’t. I hate cleaning, that’s why I hired you.”
“Ah, well that would do it. I’m not much for cleaning my dorm room either. Maybe that’s because I get tired of cleaning after finishing here though?” She noted his interest in his laptop screen as she cleaned the kitchen counters. “Checking stocks?”
The man shook his head. “I was actually trying to do a little research.”
“On what?”
“I had heard rumors that there might be some wolf packs in one of the woods nearby. The balance of deer and wolves sometimes needs a helping hand, so I was curious if there were reports on that.”
The girl put down her towel and came to lean over the back of the couch. Blond hair in a ponytail swung past his ear as her green eyes locked onto the screen. Nick glanced up at the pretty, young woman leaning over him and wondered at the girl over a century younger than him.
“What have you tried in the search?”
He simply pointed at the screen. Wolves, forests near Chicago, the searches were too vague it seemed. The girl stepped over the back of the couch like she lived there and sat cross legged next to Nick. Her bare feet tucked under her put the right foot against his leg. It was icy. “Can I try?” she asked pointing at the laptop.
Nick handed it over to the girl easily. He looked like a man in his late twenties at the oldest, but he was of a generation well before the onset of all the electronics that flooded society now. The man had witnessed all the new things and tried to evolve with them, but he was still much like a man out of time.
The girl, born into the computer age, was like a fish in water with a laptop in her hands. Or maybe he was like the first fish learning to walk on land according to evolutionary terms? However the view, Nick found himself looking over the girl’s search as she played through various ideas.
“Any of this look like what you’re thinking?” Geni asked at length.
“I think these will keep me busy for a little bit. Thanks.” He took the laptop back from the girl as she went back to work. Nick noted the girl’s exit to the kitchen in admiration. She was pretty and bright. He knew that she was on scholarship despite her parents. Independent as well, the man decided. If he were a hundred years younger, he thought.
There were mainly entries related to coyotes, but Geni had worked her magic and managed to cut her way through the internet red tape. There they were stories of recent reports from the forest rangers of wolf or coyote activity. The mix of surprise that leaked between the lines helped Nick to believe these could be the forests. If not, it was certainly worth a look.
Chapter 3- The Lair
The building looked like a regular warehouse. Gray stone walls, a flat roof tarred black, large truck doors in back and both a front and side door, the latter made of steel, all made it look like nothing more. The line of people at the side door and bouncers at the top of the four step stairway barring the door with a bannered sign above it revealed that it was no ordinary warehouse.
The Lair, the banner declared in red lettering on a black background. Music leaked through the door. Thumping beats drove their way into the night letting the line of waiting people, all dressed to dance and impress, know that there was something more to want inside.
“Come on, big guy,” a tall, lanky man with dark hair said begging of the bouncer with a clipboard in hand, “this place is huge. How can there be a line to get inside for a place like this?”
“City codes,” the large man stated matter-of-factly. A black jacket still seemed to reveal large muscles beneath the padding. A shaved, bald head with brown skin was covered with a black hat to match his jacket and gloves. It was winter still and some of the party goers looked cold as they waited.
The silver, Mercedes, sport car pulled up to the valets in front of the building. Nick exited and threw his keys to the nearest valet, who was actually a female, one of two, and greeted her, “Evening, Tara. Put it in the usual spot. Please.”
The girl smiled as she caught the keys out of the air. She took his tip as they passed each other, “Yes, sir, Mister Steel. I’ll good care of it for you.”
The other three valets all looked on enviously. Nick was known as a good tipper.
Nick began walking past the line waiting to enter. Looks of surprise and annoyance followed as he passed the group. A few called out their ‘hey’ of disapproval, but Nick ignored them. He knew the owners after all and never had to wait at the door.
Two women stood together. A pretty blond and even prettier brunette stood in their short leather jackets. Black nylons under short skirts leading to their high heels were not the best idea for a wait in winter. The girls noticed his glance and smiled at him. Taking pity on them and deciding that he would like some company tonight, Nick gestured for the two to follow.
At the stairway, Nick held up his hand to the girls and kept moving until he leaped up using the top of the rail to finish propelling him up and over onto the concrete landing. The bouncers merely raised their eyebrows at his audacity. “Do me a favor and let my friends down there in for me, Brian.”
The big bouncer tried to look menacing as he lowered his voice threateningly. “Don’t call me, Brian. You know I go by Hawk when I’m bouncing here.”
With a sharp laugh, Nick retorted, “Hawk? Maybe an ox or bear, I don’t know about some little bird for a nickname. You’re kind of selling yourself short, aren’t you?”
Scrubbing his face with a growled groan, the bouncer finished by pointing to the two girls and gestured for them to come up. Several voices raised in protest. “Knock it off or you can go home!” the big man shouted them down angrily. He turned a warm smile on the two girls as they climbed the stairs noting how pretty they were. “Ladies,” he nodded appreciatively. Nick nodded to the second man holding the door open for the women. “Brad,” he acknowledged the man. “You know you two make killer B’s right?”
The second man, almost as big as Hawk, joined his partner in a groan. Brad had some sort of nickname also, Nick thought as he passed the man, but like Hawk’s it escaped him. The second bouncer didn’t bother to correct him before the three were inside and quickly enveloped by the sounds and sights within the club.
Leading the girls to the bar, Nick bought a round before finding an open table. The bouncers weren’t being exclusive by keeping the line waiting. There were few tables open and the dance floor was crowded with undulating dancers moving to the beats thrown out by the dj in his box.
Most of the tables surrounded the dance floor from an area raised by a half dozen stairs. Two bars on either side of the building kept up a steady business as the partiers lined up for their drinks. A kitchen served from the bar left of the doors, while the one to the right was mainly a wet bar.
The girls were flirting with him even as they eyed the dance floor. These were the type of girls to dance the night away
. It was an admirable goal, especially considering their high heels that Nick figured had to be relatively uncomfortable. They coaxed him out to dance. The girls were good, not just your typical sorority girls shifting weight, but near professional choreography. Nick knew some steps but was definitely out of his league with these two. The girls didn’t seem to care. They laughed and urged him to try some of their fancier steps.
Several songs later they retreated to their drinks.
“You’re not too bad, Nick,” the brunette, Michelle, said with a smile.
“Yes, you kept up pretty well,” Alicia, the blond added.
Chuckling and knowing they were being nice, Nick replied, “Well, you’re being kind, but I can tell you two are quite a bit better than me.”
Michelle reached over to ruffle his hair as she cooed, “Aw, you’re not that bad. It’s like you’ve been dancing for years. Alicia and I used to take classes though and now we teach.”
“Ah, so you are professionals. Now I don’t feel so bad, since I know you’re ringers.”
The girls laughed. Nick’s eyes wandered to the far side of the bar, not for the first time. Marek and his clan were usually around somewhere. In fact, his senses told him at least a few vampires were nearby. For Nicholas, finding vampires was as easy for him as a compass pointing north. Such instincts made him good at finding strays as well as those he knew.
“Nicky! Are you trying to make me jealous?” a familiar voice spoke from behind him even as cold fingers found his back sliding up to his shoulder and then played with his hair trailing above his neck. His new friends’ eyes turned to the girl attached to the voice looking nearly jealous themselves. They also looked to him like they feared he was playing them.
Turning on his stool to face the woman, who was the second of the day to think he made a good ‘Nicky’, he greeted the blond with her gray piercing eyes, “Hello, Nicola, I see you’re looking well.”
“Well, I try not to change, you know,” the vampiress stated it like an inside joke. The two humans could not know that Nick had known her for nearly eighty years. She was a later convert by Marek. Her beauty had drawn him in and the vampire could not help himself. Nick had not been as involved with Marek and his clan at that time. Vivian had still held onto him at that point.
“These are my new friends, Michelle and Alicia. Ladies, this is Nicola, an old friend.”
The vampire sighed loud enough to be heard over the music. Her hands moved to his arm drawing his hand towards her mouth. “Only because you wouldn’t let me be more,” Nicola stated seductively. Feigning a kiss of his hand, the vampire actually bit into the flesh between thumb and forefinger. The woman was a flirt and even worse with men. Nearly eight decades as a vampire had barely tempered such characteristics. If not for Marek and Nick’s guidance, the woman would probably have been put down for her appetites.
After two quick draws of his blood, Nicola looked to the man’s face. “Mmmm, you still taste good,” she managed to smile without any blood showing in her teeth. The other two women looked disgusted at her antics and they had missed that she drew blood. They leaned to whisper to each other. Nicola’s eyes narrowed slightly as her keen ears caught their words.
Nick’s hearing wasn’t that of a vampire, but he could tell that the words weren’t kind. He squeezed her hand drawing her eyes back to him and gently shook his head.
“Marek’s not here yet, Nicky, if you were looking for him,” she stated the fact leaving out the words of what he might be up to this late at night. Nighttime was a vampire’s day. They made the most of the time they had out of the light that burned them as they had become. Many nights Marek and his clan patrolled their territory. They weren’t the only vampires in the world and probably not even in the city. Troublemakers needed to be dealt with swiftly. Marek and his people took the defense of their territory and their secret lives very seriously.
“Will you let me know when he arrives?” He felt the gaze of his new friends as Nicola began to withdraw. The vampire’s mood seemed to cool as she became more businesslike. Returning his attention back to his guests, Nick tried to let the situation fade away.
“Well, your friend’s quite… interesting,” Alicia commented to Michelle’s nod.
“She’s part owner here,” Nick admitted causing the girls’ faces to show surprise. “You just have to let her get it out of her system sometimes. Anyway, are you ladies ready to dance some more?”
Diverting their attention back to the dance floor, the three returned to the activity and soon the ladies’ moods returned to what they were before Nicola’s interruption. Nick’s attention, however, never fully left the vampiress or the door that might see Marek’s return. Knowing the vampire, they would probably use a less obvious entrance, but the man could only watch what he could see. His extra sense that could find vampires was more likely to be the one that noticed the man’s return anyway.
An hour later, he felt them. Nicola’s signaling to him came soon afterward. Begging his partners’ forgiveness, Nick tried to excuse himself away. “Sorry, ladies, my friend has returned. We need to talk business for awhile.”
Raising a brow curiously, the dark haired Michelle asked, “Are you part owner here also?”
Nick let a slight smile touch his lips as he replied, “In a way.
“Well, until we meet again. I have your numbers after all.” He kissed first one then the other.
Blushing slightly, Alicia responded, “And we have yours, Nick. Thanks for the nice night.”
Michelle nodded looking equally flush and holding the slip of paper with his number on it up for proof.
With a last nod of his head and a smile, the man moved off to find Marek.
The back room was considered a V.I.P. area. Simple red drapes barred the general public’s view and bouncers manned those outside. On the other side of that room, however, was another doorway obscured by more drapes. Mirrors and pictures lined the walls all around them, the seating was intimate and could probably have been enough for their conversation, but they moved through the second door.
“Hello, my friend,” Marek greeted him from a plush couch. His second in command, Jake, a dark haired man with shadowy brown eyes, when they weren’t white from using his vampire powers, sat beside him with a glass filled with what appeared to be red wine.
Around the room still dressed in their jackets, the other two men from the scouting party, Marcus, a thin black man with a shaved head and sporting a goatee, and Edgar, a slightly shorter though stockier man of Hispanic origin. Both had glasses similar to Jake’s. Nicola sat on Marek’s other side. Despite her flirting, the woman was Marek’s on again, off again girlfriend and one of his confidantes.
“Two nights in a row? Should I assume that you missed me or have you simply come back for more business?” the vampire asked with a smile.
The others smiled at the joke. Despite their many years of alliance, their relationship had always been sixty percent business. Give or take. “How could I not miss you and yours? A cold winter makes friends want to get together after so many days indoors.”
Marek snorted derisively. “I wouldn’t know about the cold days. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the sun.”
Shrugging, Nick admitted, “Winter in Chicago, there hasn’t been much sun to look at for the last few months truthfully. You haven’t missed much lately anyway.”
The vampires all chuckled at that.
“I would also think that you haven’t spent nearly every cold day inside either,” Marek added. “You tend to patrol as often as we do. How often do you find strays I wonder? I think that you’re better at finding them than we are. I’ve always wondered at that. Do you have some sixth sense for finding vampires?”
“My senses are hardly what yours are, I’m sure,” the man replied vaguely. It wasn’t the first time that Marek or one of his clan had asked the question. He never told them a full lie about it. Having a sixth sense, or whatever, for his kind was both accurate and har
d to put into exact words. It was also part of the mystery that could help keep their group in check. They didn’t know the range or true ability of his senses. That kept them more honest.
The vampires all gave him a look that said they knew he was avoiding a direct answer, but they had all known each other for a long time. Nick was a man that tended to keep his own counsel and kept such secrets to himself, even Vivian had never dragged the truth of his full ability from him. She had her own secrets from him, of course, so he didn’t feel bad about it.
“So what exactly brings you out on such a cold night, my friend?” Marek asked getting right to the point since Nick was obviously not going to give him a straight answer.
“I had a vision. I believe that we may have a pack of werewolves in the nearby area,” he stated it simply, but the vampires all seemed surprised that he would reveal what seemed like a typical secret that he might keep to himself. Nick knew revealing that he might have visions could seem like a personal thing to keep to himself, but he wasn’t revealing all he had seen after all. “Your clan may find evidence of them around soon. There’s the possibility that you may even run into them. I figured that I should warn you.”
The five all became agitated and quick words were exchanged between them. Nick waited for their attention to inevitably return to him as the messenger.
Marek looked contemplative and that moment led to Nicola speaking to him first. “You say it was a dream? It couldn’t have just been a normal dream?”
Shaking his head, Nick explained, “I rarely sleep and more rarely dream. This was a vision. It was too clear and I could tell that it was more.”
“Did your vision give you a clue as to where they might be?” Jake asked as Marek calmly let his people speak. The questions were probably in the clan leader’s mind as well.
“Just woods or a forest. It was vivid, but I didn’t recognize any landmarks. I’ve begun researching the net looking for any sightings of wolves in the area. So far it’s mostly claims of coyotes, but it’s one thing for a ranger to make a statement based off of prints as opposed to some family on a picnic that sees movement in the forest.”
Vorans and Vampires (Book 1): Voran the Night Guardian Page 2
