C.O.T.V.H. (Book 2): Judgment

by Palmer, Dustin J.

  They stood nose-to-nose. Jake could smell the alcohol on his breath. Beads of sweat streamed down his forehead. His eyes kept shifting around. He’s scared. Jake suddenly realized. Not of me, but of being shown up in front of his friends!

  “Let’s take this outside. Just you and me,” Jake said, his hands automatically forming into solid calloused fists. “Leave the others out of it.”

  "Who's that little four eyed cheater to you? Let me guess! You're the bull and he's the bitch!" Everyone laughed.

  "Come on tough guy," Jake smiled digging his nails into his palms. "Let’s just go outside."

  "Kick his ass Bill!” A very familiar voice suddenly yelled out. Jake turned his eyes away for just a brief second to see that it was Buck, and he was stumbling drunk.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jake sighed, “Buck?”

  “That’s right bitch, it’s me!” Buck came even closer and pushed Phil out of the way. “I call this one right here, Bill!” he said, getting in Jake’s face. “Try and steal my woman will you?”

  “It’s Phil. What’s this jerk off to you?”

  “Buck what the hell?” Jake asked his eyes filled with shock. The music in the club went off and for the first time Jake realized it was now almost completely empty. What is happening here?

  “Did you think I’d forget?” Buck said, all eyes now on him. “I trusted you man! I . . .” Buck swung the beer bottle he’d been holding, slamming it upside Phil’s head. Phil turned his head barely noticing the glass splintering into his face and looked back at Buck. “Aw hell,” Buck said, suddenly not quite as drunk as he’d seemed a few seconds earlier. “Somehow I saw that going a lot differently.” Phil's massive fist swung at his head. Jake saw it all in slow motion. He could even make out the letters on the kid’s class ring. Buck squeezed his eyes shut anticipating the blow when suddenly a hand intercepted it.

  Chapter 9

  Jake

  The Station! San Angelo Texas

  May 31, 2001, 1:58am

  Amber twisted Phil’s arm dropping him to the floor screaming in agony. “Make one more move against my friends and I’ll break it!”

  “You crazy black bitch!” Phil screamed at her. “I’ll kill you!”

  “Wrong answer,” she said, twisting her arms and filling the room with a loud audible pop. Phil screamed as the bones in his right wrist snapped. The club erupted into chaos. Diana jumped on the back of one of the linemen holding Whisper, only to be knocked to the floor. Donnie was quickly on the move to get to her. He broke the pool cue he’d been holding in two on the back of one Phil’s friend’s head. Then he put his body into motion, making quick work of anyone that was unfortunate enough to get in his way.

  They’d all been trained by the very best that the United States government had, to fight vampires. These guys, though varsity football players, were nowhere near the same level. Two of the bouncers came running up to join the fray. “Time to go to work Bishop!” Buck called out. “You take the big Mexican!”

  Miguel, the doorman that had taken Buck’s bribe, came at Jake, the muscles in his chest and arms rippling. The man was big, but from the way he moved, Jake could tell he was nothing more than a bruiser. He all but telegraphed his first punch.

  Sergeant Lucas’s instructions filled Jake’s mind. Evade! He heard in his head. Jake swiftly moved a few inches to the left, just missing Miguel’s punch. Counter! He grabbed Miguel’s arm with his right then switched it to his left, keeping his dominant hand free. Disable! Jake threw his right elbow into Miguel’s nose, knocking him to his knees. Blood gushed out in a spray as the cartilage in his nose crunched. Now! Finish him Bishop! Take him out of the fight! Jake finished him with a knee under the chin that dropped Miguel unmoving to the floor. In total, the fight had lasted less than five seconds. Jake turned away from Miguel’s unconscious form to see Buck sitting on top of the other bouncer, a heavyset white guy with a long ponytail. The ponytail was wrapped around Buck’s left fist, his right pounded again and again into the man’s demolished face.

  “Buck!” Jake yelled, yanking him off the man’s unconscious form. He turned and swung at Jake. “Buck it’s me!” he yelled snapping him out of it. “The others need us!”

  Buck stood up and looked where Jake was pointing. Chris, Donnie, Amber and Whisper were fighting for their lives. Diana was lying, unmoving on the floor behind them.

  Buck yelled out a wicked battle cry that oddly reminded Jake of Xena Warrior Princess, and then charged headfirst into the madness. Jake took a more delicate approach, picking off several of the assailants on the outside of the group.

  Chris, Amber, and Whisper were now back-to-back in a kind of triangle, throwing punches at anyone that got close enough. Jake rushed to their side just as Chris went down.

  Donnie stood over Diana’s unconscious form protecting her from two linebackers. Both had him wrapped up and were throwing punches into his body and face. He broke free by head butting the smaller of the two, breaking the kid’s nose then punted the other one in the groin effectively taking them both out of the fight.

  Within minutes there was no one left standing but a bloodied Buck, Amber, Whisper, Jake and Donnie. Jake grabbed Chris’ hand and pulled him to his feet. Over a dozen of their assailants lay either unconscious or writhing in pain on the floor. The others had made a beeline for the exits.

  Jake had a split lip and an eye that was probably going to swell shut. Donnie had a cut on his forehead that was bleeding profusely. Amber, other than her shirt being torn in several places was completely unscathed as was Whisper. Chris and Diana had received the worst of it. Chris’ nose was broken and he had a large bloody cut running across his cheek where someone with a class ring had hit him. Diana lay unmoving on the floor. Phil, the large jock that had started it all, had crawled away sometime during the fight.

  “Damn it Buck!” Jake said, looking at the carnage surrounding them. “I could have taken him alone, you just made things worse!”

  Buck picked a beer off one of the tables and downed it then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He pointed the beer bottle at Jake. “You know a simple thank you would be nice.”

  “Thank you? Thank you!” Jake yelled.

  “You’re welcome.” Buck smiled setting the bottle down and grabbing up another.

  Jake started towards him only to be stopped by Chris and Whisper’s hands around his chest. “You stupid son of a bitch! You could have gotten us all killed!”

  “Why you spoiled little brat!” Buck said, throwing the half-full bottle at Jake who deflected it with a wave of his hand. “Let him go! Let’s finish this!”

  Donnie stepped in front of him shaking his head. “Jake’s right Buck. You didn’t need to step in like that, we had it under control.”

  “Screw you Williams! Who the hell are you? You think you’re our big bad leader? I didn’t see you make any big moves to keep Jake from getting his ass kicked! You were talking like a little bitch! Ohhh please Mr. Quarterback, let us go!”

  “I could have taken him!” Jake yelled back.

  “Yeah, my ass!” Buck screamed back at him. “He would have made short work of you.”

  “Of me!” Jake exclaimed. “You really think that jock could have taken me?! Chuck fucking Norris couldn’t have taken me! I’ve been trained by one of the best martial artist on the planet! Hell I’ve kicked your ass more times than I can count!”

  “Alright tough guy! Let’s settle it then!” Buck yelled, pushing past Donnie. “Come on Bishop!”

  “Shut up both of you!” Amber’s voice called from where she knelt next to Diana’s still unconscious form. “If you don’t I swear I will lay both of you out right next to Bill!”

  “Phil!” Buck responded. “His name was Phil!”

  “Honestly Buck, who gives a shit!” she yelled back.

  Buck turned around and stormed angrily away, grabbing another random beer off a table and downing it. Chris and Whisper let go of Jake’s arms. Donnie walked
up and patted him on the chest. “Just leave him be Jake. Leave him be.”

  “Bullshit. Just look at Diana! This is his fault!”

  “Jake!” Donnie said, harshly. “Take a breath and calm down. This wasn’t his fault or your fault or anyone’s fault but that piece of crap Quarterback and he got an arm broken because of it. This was just one of those situations where there was just no getting out of. That big jock wasn’t going to lose face in front of his friends. One way or another it was going to get bloody."

  “So now you’re defending him?” Jake said, taken aback.

  “No. I’m not. It could have been handled a lot better than it was. Buck was just trying to keep you and the rest of us from getting hurt.”

  “If you macho idiots aren’t too busy!” Amber’s voice called out. “I could really use some help with Diana.”

  “What the hell happened to her?” Buck asked walking back over with a fresh beer in each hand.

  “Someone hit her in the back of the head with a pool cue.” Donnie squatted down next to her and gently picked up her hand. “Diana?” he said, loudly patting her hand. “Come on honey wake up. Diana, can you hear me?” She moaned but otherwise didn’t respond.

  “Donnie you’re bleeding all over the place,” Amber said, grabbing a handful of napkins off a table and pushing it to his forehead. The entire collar of his shirt was coated in blood.

  “I’m alright, Sis,” he said, placing his hands over hers, holding the napkins firmly to his head. “Head wounds always seem worse than they really are. Uh . . . Sis, you’re kind of flashing the whole club.” Donnie said looking away from his sister’s torn dress.

  Amber looked down for the first time realizing a lot more of her cleavage than she would have liked was showing. Embarrassed she tried pulling what was left of her shirt closed.

  “Here,” Jake said, pulling off the light jacket he was wearing, and draped it over her shoulders.

  “My hero!” Buck said, in a high-pitched voice.

  “Thanks Jake,” she said, ignoring Buck and slipping her arms into the jacket then zipped it up.

  Jake stared at Buck for several long seconds before finally looking back at Amber. “Sorry. It’s got some blood on it,” he said.

  “That’s okay. At least it’s still in one piece.”

  “Is she going to be okay?” Jake asked looking down at Diana.

  “I have no idea,” Donnie said, shaking his head. “I’m not a medic. The only one with any real medical training is Diana.”

  Jake let out a worried sigh. “What about you Chris? Are you okay?”

  Chris spat out a mouthful of blood. “Yeah, I’m okay. Broke my glasses though,” he said, holding them up and examining the shattered lenses.

  “Your glasses? That son of a bitch broke your damn nose!” Buck exclaimed then again sipped from one of his beers.

  “What!” Chris said, running over to the bar and staring at himself in the mirror. “Oh man! Oh man!” He began breathing in and out of his nose making a terrible wheezing sound. “What are we going to do guys? How are we going to explain this?”

  “I’ll come up with something,” Buck said, wiping the blood from his busted lip with the sleeve of his shirt.

  Charlie Hammond picked that moment to limp over the still moaning body of Miguel to where they were all standing. “Man I thought I’d seen it all! Where the hell did you kids learn to fight like that? Never in all my days have I seen something so one sided!” he said, with a laugh. “And you girl!” he motioned to Amber. “Phil had at least a hundred pounds on you and you made him your bitch! Guess he won’t be tossing the ball too well next season. Little bastard, serves him right.”

  “Um who’s this?” Amber said, looking uncertainly at the others.

  "Oh! Sorry. My name is Charlie Hammond. I used to hunt for Billy. Is that your brother over there? I take it your both Terry’s kids?”

  “Yeah . . .” Amber said, still not certain if she could trust him.

  “It’s okay,” Buck said, “This is the guy I told you about.”

  Charlie stared hard at Donnie. “Son, you look just like your dad! When I saw you come in to the club I literally had to do a double take,” he said, shaking his head. “We need to get you kids out of here. Knowing my brother, he's probably called the cops by now.”

  "Your brother?" Jake asked.

  Charlie sighed. "Yeah my baby brother owns this place."

  "So Phil is your nephew?" Amber asked. "I'm sorry Charlie but he didn't give me much choice."

  "Shit I'm not," Charlie chuckled. "I hate that little snot. He's been nothing but a bully since he was able to walk. I'm glad someone finally put him in his place."

  “You know, they did jump us!” Buck exclaimed tossing both his still half-full bottles of Budweiser into the air over his shoulders. "Maybe we should be the ones talking to the cops."

  “Uh huh. You just hit him with that bottle as what? A preemptive strike?” Charlie replied. “It doesn’t matter much anyway. You guys just took the star football player out along with six or seven other members of the team. I don’t have to tell you how much Texas cops love their football. We better sneak you all out the back. Come on I’ll show you the way.”

  “We’ve got a hurt girl here,” Donnie said, still crouched next to Diana. “I don’t know if we should move her.”

  Charlie walked over and leaning down took a good look at her. “I don't think she's too hurt. Did Phil give her any drinks?"

  "Yeah he did," Jake nodded. "Why?"

  "That sick little bastard probably roofied her," Charlie said, disgustedly. "I caught him doing it a while back and told him I'd beat his ass if I ever caught him doing it again."

  Roofied? Awe man, it’s all my fault. Jake lowered his head. If I'd just gone with it, if I'd just danced with her. Damn.

  "I should have snapped his neck!" Amber said, angrily.

  "Just have her checked out as soon as possible." Charlie checked her pulse. "But it can wait. Let’s get you kids out of here.” The sirens began wailing outside.

  “Cops!” Buck yelled out dropping his beer to the ground, the bottle shattered. “Let’s go!” He grabbed Amber’s hand and followed after Charlie. Chris and Whisper were right on their trail, her hand in his.

  Donnie very gently picked Diana up in his arms. Her eyes opened looking into his. “Hi!” she said, her speech badly slurred. “What happened? Why am I sooooo high off the gwond?”

  “Hey girl. I’m glad you’re okay. Listen, I’ll explain later. Right now we’ve got to get you out of here.” Donnie said, rushing her past Jake.

  “Where’s Jake?” she slurred. “Is heeeeee okay?”

  “Jakes fine sweetie,” Donnie answered. “He’s just fine.”

  “Awe that shucks. He’s such a jerk! And a pervert too! He touched one of my boobs!”

  “I did not!” Jake said then thought better of it. Why am I defending myself to a drunk girl?

  He followed them out the back. Right outside the door lay an alleyway with two huge dumpsters. Across from it was very large, very dark field full of mesquite trees and tall grass. Charlie slammed the door behind them.

  “Hide!” he screamed at them. “Get into the field!” The group stumbled about a hundred yards tripping over weeds and mesquite, and then dropped to the ground as the back door to The Station! burst open.

  Charlie leaned against the wall smoking, as if on his break. Jake could just make out what he was saying as the cops pointed their guns in his direction. “What the hell!” he yelled out in mock terror throwing his arms up in the air.

  “What are you doing back here?” one of them asked.

  “I work here! I was just taking a smoke break.”

  They didn’t look convinced. Charlie dropped the cigarette out of his mouth and began stomping it furiously. “It’s just a cigarette I swear!”

  “Don’t move asshole!” One of them said, grabbing Charlie by the shirt and shoving him against the wall. “Have you seen a gro
up of about fifteen gang bangers come this direction?”

  “Fifteen?” Buck whispered loudly with a chuckle.

  “Gang bangers?” Donnie, Amber, and Whisper echoed each other.

  “Gang bangers!” Diana exclaimed drunkenly. “Oh my god! Where?”

  “Shhh!!!” Everyone said. Luckily, the cops didn’t seem to have heard. They escorted Charlie back inside, his hands held firmly behind his back.

  “We owe that guy,” Amber said, “We owe him big.”

  “No joke,” Jake replied. “Brother or no brother, I think we just got him fired.”

  “Shoot, I think we just got him arrested,” Buck said, “That wasn’t a cigarette he was smoking. I could smell that much on him in the bar.”

  “Hey where’s Whisper?” Chris said, looking around.

  “She was right here a second ago,” Amber said, glancing behind her.

  “Damn that girl can’t stay put for two seconds,” Donnie said, peering around angrily. “Whisper!” he called out in a loud undertone.

  “I’m sure she’s fine,” Jake said, trying to calm everyone’s nerves. "If she can hide from Lucas, she can hide from a few cops."

  “What do we do now?” Chris asked.

  “We sit tight, wait for the cops to leave,” Donnie answered.

  “Where’s Jake?” Diana asked again.

  “Hell that could be hours,” Buck said, “They could be here till sunup and we don’t have that kind of time.”

  “The parking lot has got to be crawling with cops,” Donnie said, “We’ll never make it to the truck."

  “Not without a miracle,” Jake agreed.

  For the next twenty minutes, they lay unmoving. Every so often, a cop would step out the back door and take a look around. Then from behind them, somewhere off in the distance, came the dull roar of an engine. “Everyone stay put,” Donnie said, covering Diana’s now snoring form.