On the Line (Alternate Places Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  “That should do it. Try it with Britney and Blaine. Blaine first, but... Blaine, it feels pretty good once you're full, so, you know, try not to come in your pants. Changing clothes would be a pain for you right now. Just push his hand away when you're topped off.” Kate told him bluntly, since this kind of information would be heeded better coming from someone who obviously knew what was about to happen.

  Blaine made himself push away before he orgasmed, which made Zack smile and give him a little thumbs up, covertly, hiding the move from everyone with his body, except Kaitlyn who stood right next to him.

  Britney did the more typical Alede thing and held his hand to her stomach as long as she could. She didn't get any more energy out of it than her brother had. Full was all you got, Kate knew. Still she rode pure pleasure for about a minute before having to let go. Once this had finished, Kate told them to lock all their power down as well as they could, so Hilda could join the discussion.

  They did a reasonable job. Britney taking Don by the hand and sitting down on the edge of Blaine's bed, they both touched their friend, signals of ownership being applied one after another. As they looked at him with a bit of awe in their eyes. Neither of them had probably ever managed full before, not even Britney's glory hole adventure would have done that, not even close. It probably seemed to them like Don had suddenly become the most important person in their lives.

  Everyone but Hilda and Keeber sat down then, Claire rolling out what she'd accomplished on the phone so far for Zack and Don.

  “We have a special meeting in three hours with the police and the lawyers of the attackers, as well as our own lawyers and the boys themselves. Zack, you'll need to come along I believe, so that you can check the men to make certain their minds haven't been tampered with, and to compel them to not have any problems with this any more if it's only silliness as Britney has suggested. That will take care of the immediate matter. I trust, Blaine, that you're willing to have them released if they're no longer a threat to you? They did commit a real crime, but if they're released we should be able to track down the others and make certain no further violence comes of this, and deal with any outside threats that may exist as well.”

  Blaine seemed of two minds on the issue. He didn't want them to get away with the attack, but kind of understood how it may have been jarring to them, seeing a man walk out of the bathroom like that. He finally agreed that no matter what else happened, they probably shouldn't be prosecuted fully for it. Since the jail time they'd get for it would only make them worse people. Most likely ruining the rest of their lives for something that boiled down to a few moments of anger over someone else's mistake. He narrowed his eye at his sister when he mentioned the last bit.

  Thinking about everything, Kate wondered if anyone had thought to check with “McC's” and see if the bar had cameras up, recording the action.

  “Britney being on the Internet isn't such a huge deal, unless her change got caught, too. That could be bad. No one would believe it was real, obviously, but still, that kind of thing is probably best kept out of the public eye.” Britney stood up suddenly, the impact hitting her solidly. That kind of thing could come back on all Alede, and that meant she needed to find and destroy any such recording, at least if it showed anything other than sex.

  She headed for the door, looking ready to burn the bar down if she couldn't find the tape or recording, her hands turning into tight fists and her lips going white. Kate stood and put a hand on her arm, getting her to stop for a second.

  “I'm not stopping you, Brit. We need to make sure this is covered that way... Just, you need back-up. Someone intimidating enough to make them think twice about giving us the brush off, and someone that can get information from them...So, Keeber, and either Claire or Zack. I'll go with you for moral support if you want, since my skills as a body guard aren't enough to be missed if I leave. Unless you others think I'll get in the way?” She looked around the room.

  Hilda looked a little hurt about not having been picked so she explained her reasoning to her.

  “The reason I think Keeber should go is that he looks more intimidating than you do Hilda. I think no one in this room would doubt that you could go and kill everyone in the bar. For that matter I probably could, if I could borrow your gun. The thing is, with Keeber there, they might just buckle under without any force being needed at all. They'd probably take one look at you... and ask if you wanted to be in the movies yourself. And by movies here, I mean porn...” Kate raised her eyebrows then winked at the giant woman, who really would do well in porn, looking a bit like a blonde, pink skinned she-hulk. You'd have to work out the logistics and give her a single partner for the shooting day, but other than that the whole thing could work out pretty well. Kate considered the idea for a moment. She'd bring it up with her later, if they ever had time, since teenage boys everywhere shouldn't be denied seeing her nude. The girls either for that matter.

  Hilda grinned at her, “Do you really think so? I mean, I wouldn't want to be in their movies, but it's nice to be asked. Still, I see your point. Each to their own best task. In this Keeber is the better choice. And... Claire I think. She can tell them that she is the agent of Britney and that they don't want the recordings released, unless they are of high enough quality. That way it just becomes a matter of economics and you can maybe buy the recordings, rather than killing the men and taking them. I don't think Zack could do that well and it would, perhaps, become violent faster that way.”

  Looking around the room, Kate judged everyone's opinions of the plan. Keeber stood and adjusted the hand gun in its holster under his arm, then hid it under a heavy leather jacket that made him look a lot like an enforcer or leg breaker for the mob to Kate. Don and Blaine looked bemused and Blaine told his sister not to go off half-cocked, which got a laugh from everyone but Hilda and Zack, neither of whom really got it, she knew.

  Claire stood fluidly, "Might I borrow a coat?"

  Her words held just a bit of her accent. It was Irish or Scottish, Kaitlyn thought. She didn't know which, even if they were very different things, because it was soft and not there all the time.

  She could handle the cold, better than anyone else in the room, but it would look funny if a girl in an old fashioned dress walked through the snow to the bar a half mile away without one. Don volunteered his own, which looked far too large on the smallish Vampire, but did look warm. She moved her shoulders in it a little, getting cozy, then thanked the boy with a hug.

  That caught Kate's attention, since Claire generally took a while before warming up to a new person. She didn't know what the hug signified, if anything, but she also didn't offer to bargain or pay for the use of the jacket. Normally she would have, Don being the only person in the room that wasn't involved in this situation directly. Maybe it was nothing though, or maybe she just liked Don? He was a nice guy after all. Just because she was tied to Zack through a blood bond, that didn't mean she couldn't have some friends on the side.

  As they walked outside, the cold air hit Kate in the face, making her glad that she'd worn her heavy coat, stocking cap and long scarf, as well as gloves. Britney marched along in similar gear, but a lighter hat, one picked for style, not warmth, and shivered as she walked. If Keeber felt it, he didn't let them know about it, just moving, his hands un-gloved and no hat or scarf. Claire didn't feel anything, Kaitlyn knew. Except possibly the pressure of the ground under her feet as she moved.

  As they walked, Claire outlined a course of action.

  They'd go in and search first for cameras or possible camera mountings, remembering that any crack or pinhole could do, since the technology had made that possible now. Then, if they found anything, they'd locate the person responsible for it and try to gain access to the recordings. If they showed anything, like Britney shifting form, they'd remove them, by purchase first if possible, then if it wasn't take them by force.

  “If it comes to theft or force, Keeber, I want you and the girls to leave immediately. I'll mee
t you all at Don's dorm room when I have the evidence. It would be best however if we deal with this more... professionally, however.”

  At the bar, Britney caused a small stir with the wait staff, and one of the bar tenders practically ran to the bathrooms with three or four small black objects in his hands. Several of the waiters hung around the bathroom doors, waiting for the girl to go in to one or the other.

  Claire smiled and looked at the set up approvingly, “I see that we won't have to search for the cameras at least. These men all seem eager to see you Britney. Perhaps we should seek out the person in charge?” Claire started to walk toward the bar, probably to compel some answers from the people there, but Kate put a hand out to stop her and looked around at the lines coming from the people suddenly, and the cameras where they sat on the ceilings in the bathrooms. She didn't have to see them to understand that's what hung there on the other side of the doors. The lines made it perfectly clear. It felt almost like they had a little sign on each one saying camera. Not in words, but in feelings, a knowing that told her what they were.

  She took Claire by the hand and followed the strongest line toward the back, it was a deep blue mixed with black and purple in irregular splotches. It didn't feel healthy, a little perverted and out of balance rather than ill, it seemed to Kate. The line led into a closed room, but the door wasn't locked so she just walked in.

  Inside the large closet looking space sat a slightly overweight woman wearing a black t-shirt and a light suede jacket in an ugly red color that couldn't decide if it was pink or burgundy. She had on blue jeans that looked clean, but well worn, and the expression on her face showed habitual frown lines that didn't fit with the relative youth of the rest. Her hair was brown, straight and just past shoulder length, which definitely wasn't the best possible look for her face shape. She seemed to be in her mid-to-late thirties to Kate, at a glance at least.

  The woman turned to them and looked shocked, “Um, hello? May I help you?”

  Claire stepped forward, a smile on her face and her voice smooth, as if she'd practice the speech she started giving daily, for years.

  “I think you may be able to. I represent Miss Billings here, perhaps you recognize her from the recordings you made of her a few weeks ago. I believe on,” moving forward she pointed to two of the monitors in front of the women. “These cameras in particular, though I could be mistaken... Regardless, we've come here today to assess the situation. Our client didn't realize that she would be on video, and is worried that she didn't give her best performance... her intent being purely recreational at the time. If we could review the recordings for quality and perhaps be given an option on them if we like them?”

  The woman muttered under her breath, but twitched in response and started to edge her hand toward her purse, Keeber moved forward and stopped her, looked in and then handed the bag back to the woman.

  Turning to Claire he explained, “I thought she might be going for a weapon, but it's just drugs. Valium I think.”

  The woman blanched, but everyone else just stood there. Kate finally stepped forward and put out her hand, causing the woman to jump, even though she just held it out to shake, the woman recovered after a minute and, trembling, took the hand, her damp palm touching Kate's dry and warm skin. She let a slight trickle of warmth and trust move through the point of contact, chasing just a tiny bit of lust, causing the woman to relax and stare at her, suddenly realizing how hot everyone in the room with her was.

  “We're not the police, or anything like that. All this is about is assuring that Britney only puts out high quality work, at least as far as the public sees. No one can do that all the time raw, so, if we could see the footage that would be great. We don't even have to take it with us if you have it available here?”

  The woman sighed and asked them to wait for a moment, then brought the footage up and explained as they watched it.

  “Here's where she starts. I've got to say, it's some of the best stuff we've ever gotten. I'm going to fast forward if that's all right? We've all seen it here. It's pretty clear, till the end, where the camera fritzes for a bit....” It took some time, even moving through in fast motion, Britney having really spent some effort on the whole thing. The camera angle stayed the same of course, through it did manage to move slightly, focusing and zooming in, obviously under control of a human operator. At the end, Britney got up from her knees, arranged her clothing so that the hood of her sweatshirt was up and leaned against the wall, shifting into a boy that looked almost like Blaine. Actually, Kate saw, he looked exactly like him, closer than even identical twins would if they were human.

  “We were going to cut that last bit out and sell the rest. In five years we've never had that kind of footage come in. I mean, once a month or so a drunk girl will go back, usually with her boyfriend or some guy she picked up, or a drunk guy will suck off a few of his buddies, but nothing like this! I'd hate to lose it, but we can't guarantee sales really... Porn doesn't make that much money any more, not tame stuff like this, thanks to the Internet.” The woman hunched up her shoulders, but didn't try to argue that she should be allowed to keep the recording.

  Claire surprised her, by asking that she remove the last five minutes permanently right now, in front of them, and make a copy for their files as well, telling her she could use the rest as she saw fit.

  The woman went to work quickly and walked over all the files with them. Then Claire looked at her sweetly, causing the woman's eyes to go suddenly blank, and her voice flat.

  “Is that truly all the copies of it?” She asked, sounding friendly and relaxed. The woman shook a little, compelled, her will stripped away and told them it was. Claire released her and shook her hand before they left. Kate remembered when Zack had compelled her, the first time they'd met. It looked calm from the outside, but she recalled the pure terror of it. It took her a long time to really feel comfortable around Zack after that, even though he'd turned out to be a really sweet guy.

  Claire pocketed the small black thumb drive the woman had given them and made pleasantries for a few moments with the wait staff before they left. They seemed disappointed that Britney wouldn't be staying, but no one said anything.

  On the street Claire moved in next to Britney, taking her hand and pulling her close, not hurting her in any way, but making sure that the girl knew she was serious.

  “I'd expect you to be more careful in the future, of course. Your kind lives far too long for you to leave an extensive trail of film behind... The quality of that is such that you can play it off as being someone else, even now, to all but close friends and a few observant people that see you regularly. Too much data would work against you though. I know this first hand.” Looking at her, not sternly, as much as knowingly, the Vampire waited for the blonde to nod before starting to walk again.

  Back at the room Zack and Claire bundled up Blaine and took off to go visit with the police and work out the legal matters as best they could. Leaving Hilda and Keeber behind to guard them. Britney looked up at Kate when they left and asked if those two could really protect Blaine if he were attacked.

  “Oh, sure. Claire's really tough and Zack can run away like no one's business, so he won't be in the way. If it came down to it though Zack could take care of things. He's not a great fighter, but he's a decent killer. We just don't want that to happen here, if possible.”

  Hilda looked like she wanted to say something, but instead she just nodded, thinking before she finally spoke.

  “I have to agree really. Zack is my friend and he's fought for me personally to great effect, but his skills lay more in running away than anything else. But that doesn't mean he's not brave! He's helped a lot of people that were in danger...”

  Keeber took over and told some of the stories he had about Zack, many of which involved women trying to get him into bed for some reason. Especially Libby. His telling of the stories was disjointed and innocent sounding, even when he talked of Libby doing some fairly lewd things to tr
y and get attention, most of which Zack had ignored at the time.

  Finally Britney, who'd moved to sit on Don's lap, holding him in place with her own body, cuddled him a bit and asked if he was really all right.

  “If that... that Hartley hurt you, I'll... well I don't know what I'll do, but I'll do something! Maybe I could sneak up on him and hit him from behind.” She held the boy that had stopped being a boy for real both a short and very long time before, protectively.

  Keeber chuckled, but Hilda didn't, walking over to the girl in three slow steps. Kate was afraid that she'd respond poorly to this threat to Zack, but she knelt by the girl and patted her hand briefly instead. Hilda kept her face passive and kind, which took work for her, according to what she'd mentioned to Kate several times about how being close to Alede made her feel.

  “I think your Don is stronger than you give him credit for. If it came to it though, I think perhaps you may be able to take Zack in a fight... He has a hard time hitting women, even if they deserve it. You could use that to your favor. Also, if you don't use weapons, he'd probably not use his more dangerous skills, so his trick of knocking a person away would be all that he had left.” She looked at the other girl and considered something.

  “Also, if you were to offer to have sex with him, and really mean it, that might distract him long enough for you to get a few solid blows in. He gets distracted at times like that, because he doesn't want to hurt the other person's feelings, but also doesn't want to have sex with everyone all the time. But really, I think Don seems well. He's strong and healthy and he has new powers as you saw, which speaks of good things, not anything bad.”

  Britney let herself be reassured when Don seconded this and told her about the void. How it had been hard at first and lonely at times, even if Zack had been right there, how he'd learned to focus so that, even as centuries passed, he didn't really feel them anymore. There wasn't any pain, and while he did almost dissolve into nothingness at first, he managed to pull things together in time.