Elliott

by I D Johnson

  “I’m so sorry, Mom. And you’re right. I should’ve been here.”

  “It’s okay, honey,” she said quietly. “I know with everything Nancy’s put you through, it’s hard for you to do everything. It’s hard for you to go without seeing your boys. I know how much you love them. I miss them, too.”

  He didn’t want to think about that. He had hoped that the older they got, the more they’d ask to see him, but now that Wally was ten and Michael was nine, it seemed like they spent more and more time with Peter. Nancy had made a point of letting him know they called Peter dad, too, and she’d even been encouraging them to call him Elliott, though neither boy did.

  “The thing about this life you and I both have to get used to, Son, is that we will say a lot of hellos and a lot of goodbyes. Unlike humans who age together and die together, if things go according to plan, people like us don’t get that luxury unless we only surround ourselves with those who are the same as we are. Otherwise, you better get used to telling people goodbye.”

  Elliott snickered; he couldn’t help it. “Seems like that’s about all I do, Mom. I mean—for the love of God, there aren’t too many people left alive that I care about. My kids and you. That’s pretty much it.”

  “What about Tanya?”

  He shrugged. “I think we both know I ain’t in love with Tanya.”

  “Oh, thank God,” Peggy muttered. “I’m sorry. I know you’ve had a hard life, Elliott. I didn’t mean to imply that you hadn’t. And I’m sorry for what I said to you about, Jimmy, too. You took care of him for far longer than you should’ve had to. In fact, you should’ve never had to. Janette told me the living conditions she pulled you two out of. To think…. Well, it doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done. And you should know, no matter what stupid comments come out of my mouth, I love you, Son. I always will. And as much as I know I’ll miss Frank every single day, at least I know I’ll always have you.”

  Elliott leaned over and kissed his mother on the head. “I love you, too, Mom. Ain’t nothing going to change that.”

  A nurse came in a few minutes later to let them know they’d need to move the body soon, and Elliott stood to tell his father goodbye for the last time. It seemed like all he ever did any more was say goodbye. He bent down and kissed Frank’s forehead and then walked to the door to wait for his mom, praying that this would be the last funeral for a while. He hoped the next one he went to was his own, but since he’d been told that was nearly impossible, he figured he’d better take his mother’s advice and get used to saying goodbye.

  Chapter 12

  Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1974

  The receptionist, Veronica, who was also Elliott’s live-in girlfriend of a couple of years, paged him to the front of the dealership over the loudspeaker. He looked up from his desk and surveyed the sales area. He was certain he’d spoken to every couple that had come in to purchase a vehicle so far, but now he spotted a pair he hadn’t had a chance to interact with yet and straightened his jacket. These two looked different. They weren’t looking at cars. Rather, they leaned against Veronica’s counter speaking to her, and while he wouldn’t blame them for wanting to talk to the cute brunette, they didn’t appear to be flirting with her either. He had a funny feeling in his stomach.

  The two men looked like they were in their mid-twenties, though he had a hunch him they were actually older. They wore black suits with white shirts beneath them and had sunglasses sticking out of their breast pockets. One of them had long brown hair that fell almost to his shoulders and looked like he could’ve been the lead guitar player for Steely Dan. The other had short blond hair and a mustache that nearly covered his upper lip. Something told him these two cats had asked for him by name, and this wasn’t about buying a car.

  “Howdy folks,” he said in his thickest Southern accent. He found it put people at ease almost immediately. “How can I help you?”

  “Mr. Sanderson?” Moustache asked, offering his hand. “I’m Curtis Rickman, and this is my associate Todd Bickendorff.” Elliot shook hands with both of them. “We want to talk to you about… a car… but we’d like to step into your office, if you don’t mind.” He looked around him, like he wanted to make sure they weren’t being spied on by any of the other sales people.

  “Oh? A car? Is that what you want to talk to me about?” Elliott asked, his cheesiest smile on his face. “Lucky for you we got every kinda car imaginable here at Anderson’s Used Car Emporium. And if we don’t have what you’re looking for here, we likely have it at one of our two sister sites in Oklahoma City and Norman.”

  Both of them looked slightly annoyed. “We have heard about your dealership and have been quite impressed,” Todd said, managing a smile. “But as my associate said, we’d really appreciate it if we could step into your office.”

  “Right, right,” Elliott said, certain he had a feel for what was about to happen. It wasn’t the first time he’d been approached in the last fifteen years, but he really hoped it would be the last. “Veronica,” he said, turning to lean over the counter so he could see her better, “I’m going to take Mr. Rickman and Mr. Bickendorff back to my office for a few minutes, but if I am needed on the sales floor for any reason, please let me know.” He winked at her, and she blushed, assuring him she would do as instructed as he led the pair through a maze of desks back to his office.

  He ushered them to chairs and then closed the door behind them before slowly walking around his desk, unbuttoning his powder blue suit jacket and having a seat. “Now, gentlemen, what do I have to do to get you in a new car today?” He smiled, his eyes twinkled, and he waited to hear their sales pitch.

  “I think we can cut the bullshit now, Mr. Sanderson,” Curtis said, his tone matter-of-fact but not rude. “I’m sure you know why we are here.”

  “I thought you said you wanted to buy a car. Look, if this hush hush business is because the two of you are a couple, that’s fine by me. I don’t judge.”

  The two looked at each other as if he’d just said he thought they should marry their sisters. Todd shook his head and ran his hands down his pant legs, like his palms were sweating just thinking about it. “No, Sanderson. We’re here to talk to you about an opportunity.”

  “Oh, an opportunity? You two opening up a dealership? I’ll tell you, I make a fine living here. It would take quite a substantial amount of money….”

  “No, not for that.” Curtis shook his head and smoothed down his moustache. “We are from LIGHTS—”

  “LIGHTS?” Elliott interrupted. “Why, you don’t say? Because pretty much every day of the week I have two guys dressed in black suits saunter into my dealership asking to buy a car in private. I am shocked to hear that!”

  “Listen, we know that others have come before us to talk to you, and we know that you’ve said you don’t want to join our team, but just hear us out, okay? We’re not from the Kansas City team. We’ve come all the way from Los Angeles.” Todd paused for a breath, and Curtis picked up where he’d left off.

  “That’s right. We really need your help. There’s a lot going on out there right now, and with all of the news reports and television shows being filmed, we are having a hell of a time keeping everything hidden. If we had someone with your set of skills….”

  “All right, fellas, that’s enough,” Elliott said, tempted to put his hands over his ears and sing so that he could drown them out. “I’ve told Jordan the half dozen times he’s called. I’ve told Janette. Hell, I’d tell Jesus if He was here to ask. The answer is no. No. No. I don’t want to be part of your secret organization. I don’t care if the Vampires are set to take over the planet, and I’m the only one that can stop them. I am not going to join you—not now, not ever, got it?”

  “But—” Curtis began, but he didn’t get anything else out before Elliott was up and showing them to the door.

  “Don’t make me call security. I know you could kick their asses, but that might just make the news, and I’m pretty sure I could convince the reporters
and the cops that the two of you are here to try to case the joint. Just go.”

  Muttering, Curtis and Todd got up and straightened their jackets, headed toward the door. He didn’t care how far they’d come or how upset their Leader would be that they’d failed. He didn’t care about any of it. As far as he was concerned LIGHTS could grow an ass and kiss it.

  Shaking his head, he returned to his desk and contemplated his life choices, a topic he tried to avoid as much as possible, but those jerks had brought him right back to it. He ran his hands down his face and thought about the night he’d Transformed. It had been so easy—none of the pain he’d been expecting, and no need for the magical serum Peggy had mentioned. If only everything else in his life had been so simple.

  He didn’t talk to Peggy anymore. It hadn’t happened all at once, but over the years since Jimmy died, and then Frank, they’d had more and more arguments about petty shit, the kind of things Elliott didn’t want to face and Peggy thought he needed to deal with. Nancy and Peter had taken the boys and moved to Florida. He hadn’t seen his sons in over five years. He would’ve gone anywhere to spend time with them, but the last time he’d visited, they’d both told him they didn’t want to see him anymore, that Peter was their dad now. He knew he could convince them otherwise if he wanted to, but there was something about manipulating his children’s thinking that he decided wasn’t ethical—even if Nancy seemed to disagree.

  He’d made a lot of money selling cars and lost a lot of money on horses. He’d also made his fair share of cash playing pool, a skill he’d discovered a few years back that had certainly been enhanced by his change. He and Veronica had a nice place, but he couldn’t quite seem to stay ahead of the curve. It seemed every paycheck he brought in, he’d spend most of it paying off debts, mostly gambling debts, and he needed to figure out a way to get that under control.

  And he needed to pick his opponents a little better when he entered the pool hall, too. He’d had to duck out the back door on more than one occasion to avoid a fight that wouldn’t have been fair and would’ve left a lot of people asking questions.

  Every once in a while, he’d encounter a Vampire. He could feel it in the pit of his stomach. They could usually tell what he was, too, but then, as long as they were buying a car or playing fair, he didn’t give a shit. He certainly wasn’t about to kill another one if he could avoid it, even though he remembered how easy it had been the first time.

  If he could go back and do that again, though, he wouldn’t have. The worst thing about his shitty life was that he was caught in it for eternity, unless he chased down a Hunter and asked him to blow his brains out. And it sucked. He was getting a little older now, almost thirty-five, but he still looked like he was a twentyish year old baby. He could play that off for a few more years, maybe, but he had no idea what he’d do when he needed to alter his birth certificate or driver’s license. He supposed at that point, he’d have to call Janette, and then she’d probably want something from him.

  He saw the front door open and an older couple come in. It was time to get out of his own head and get back to what he did best. At least Transforming had given him something worthwhile, the ability to take money right out of a customer’s hands.

  Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1983

  Elliott fumbled with the television remote and the telephone, trying to turn down the TV and answer the phone at the same time without sitting down or spilling his beer. He mumbled a curse word and finally managed to press the button to connect. He hoped it wasn’t a sales call. He didn’t want to miss the Celtics/Lakers game for a telemarketer. “Hello?”

  “Elliott, it’s Mom.”

  He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He hadn’t spoken to her in more years than he cared to count. “Yeah?” He didn’t know what else to say. She’d practically disowned him the last time they’d met, and he didn’t even want to think about the things she’d said, about how he’d ruined his life and amounted to nothing, how he should’ve fought for his kids….

  “I won’t be long. I just wanted to let you know… Jordan Findley was killed last night.”

  The news was shocking. He had no idea how that was even possible. While he knew a Hunter could kill a Guardian, how would one capable of such a feat get access to the Guardian Leader? “What happened?” he asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.

  “Some psycho Hunter shot him in the back of the head in his apartment last night,” Peggy explained. “I haven’t talked to him or Janette for years, but I got a call from a local Hunter I used to work with a little while ago. Anyway, I just thought you might want to know.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” He wasn’t sure what else there was to say. He thought about pointing out that she sure was good at cutting people off from her life, but he didn’t see the point.

  “Okay then. I guess you’re doing okay?”

  “Just great.”

  She was quiet again for a little while before she said, “Well, I won’t take up anymore of your time.”

  “Okay. Bye.” He clicked off before she could say anything else to make him feel bad about the situation that had arisen between them, but he refused to take the blame for that. Maybe he wasn’t the best at keeping relationships either, but in fairness, most of the people he cared about had died. Or he should’ve never been involved with them in the first place, like Nancy. Or someone had lied to them about his character—like his children. Or it wasn’t a real relationship to begin with like the parade of girls he’d had in his life the last twenty years. Okay, maybe he also wasn’t good at relationships.

  He took another sip of his beer and turned the volume back up on the television. He thought about Janette. He’d always kind of liked the lady. She was feisty, that was for sure, and she’d done as much as anyone to keep him and Jimmy safe and get them out of that hellhole. He had no idea what had ever happened to Arlene. He figured she had to be dead by now, though. Not that she’d be that old. Probably in her sixties. But the way she drank and smoked…. He assumed she was dead, too.

  And now, so was Jordan. The thought made him shudder. If the Guardian Leader could be gunned down in his own apartment, what was keeping any of them alive? But then, he’d always thought he’d live forever, and in a way, this news made him feel a little warm inside. Maybe there was a chance he wouldn’t be confined to his current state of purgatory for eternity after all. Maybe someday a Hunter would shoot him in the head, and then he could find Reggie and play a game of catch or ride bikes with Jimmy. Of course, in order for that to happen, he’d probably have to hang around some Hunters.

  The idea of joining up with LIGHTS had entered his mind recently, but not because yet another team of recruiters had come knocking on his door. His gambling debts were starting to add up. His most recent girlfriend, Leslie, had said she couldn’t live in an apartment this small, and even though Elliott was pulling in a huge salary plus commission at the lot, he owed a lot of people a lot of money. If he joined LIGHTS, maybe he’d be free of that burden. Not to mention, it seemed like more people were catching on to his shady pool tactics. They’d never be able to prove he was cheating because he technically wasn’t, but throwing the first game to win double or nothing on the second was beginning to feel a little sketchy to some of his opponents, and he’d had to start looking for new places to shoot pool. He was constantly looking for new venues on the outskirts of town.

  Elliott sipped his Bud and thought about the one and only time he’d met Jordan Findley. Seemed like a nice man. He felt bad for his family. Maybe he’d call Janette in a day or two, tell her he was sorry. Maybe he wouldn’t. “Rest in peace, Mr. Findley,” he said raising his beer bottle to the heavens. He took a long swallow and settled back in his chair, letting thoughts of the meaning of life and death evade him as Magic Johnson sank a three pointer.

  Chapter 13

  Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1985

  Andora’s was a hole in the ground club a few miles outside of town down a two-lane highway, and while it smelled a
bit like a urinal, he had a pretty good racket going here. It was much better than the last place he’d set up shop, Hoppers, on the other side of town. Things hadn’t ended well there when he’d angered what turned out to be the leader of a biker gang. It’d been a month and a half, though, and he was pretty sure Larry and the boys had moved on to greener pastures. Besides, he’d only taken him for 500 bucks, which wasn’t much considering what he usually ended up hauling in before his mark was on to him.

  There were lots of pretty girls in the club tonight, which made Elliott happy, and when he was happy, he tended to talk. He was in the middle of his second game with a fat guy named Tony, a guy he’d already taken a couple of hundred bucks from a few nights ago, but he hadn’t learned his lesson yet, apparently, and Elliott was glad to take more. While Tony took forever to set up his next shot, Elliott recounted the time Vinny Vespachio had come into the dealership a few years back and bought himself a nice, untraceable used car.

  “So he’s surrounded by these big guys all wearing dark shades, you know? Even though they’re inside. So right away, I know this guy means business, right?” A blonde girl with giant boobs giggled, and he stopped talking to admire her smile for a moment before he continued. “I didn’t want to ask too many questions, ’cause the last thing I want to do is be an accessory to a crime.” It was his shot, so he paused in his story and surveyed the pool table, trying to decide what would get this guy’s money in his own pocket the fastest.