Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2001 01:33:38 -0000 From: Nathan Wolf Subject: Blood Angel (Chapter 3) OK, here's chapter 3... things seem to be going a lot smoother now when I know where the story is going. I appreciate all the e-mails and criticism... and yes I do think that it's perfectly natural not to jam two ppl having sex in chapter 1. Sex is something that comes gradually... well to some people at least. Anyway, I wanted to mention some of my favorite stories, and stories I strongly suggest to all the readers. 1. Studio In The Country 2. Different Type Of Love 3. Hidden In Plain Sight 4. Kevin and Justin 5. N'Sync JC and Lance 6. Utopia Now for the usual crap... N'Sync are not gay... blah, blah... blah, blah... underage.... blah, blah... go away... blah, offended... blah, blah, blah... get a life... blah, blah... And that said, on with the story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After spending the whole day pacing up and down his cramped apartment, Robby's irritation felt like a large bubble ready to burst. There was no way out of it. He ran out of all the believable excuses, and not giving an excuse and not showing up would just prove their suspicions. That he was incapable of killing. The sun rays had no way of entering the apartment, but the dark shades on windows turned light gray as the sun was setting. Many years passed since Robby died and he no longer had any hope of seeing another sunset. The night was his world, and he had made his peace with it. But he would never, ever make peace with what was expected of him. Even if that did push him straight through the gates of hell. Watching the last light fade from the shades, he sighed and threw his coat on. Opening the cabinet next to the bed, he decided to go light on weapons choosing just couple of slender blades. He always fought with his hands anyway; besides, he wasn't out to kill anyone tonight unless he absolutely had to. Dusk was in Robby's opinion the ugliest time of the day. Everything was gray and lifeless, people hurried off the streets and locked their doors, mothers frantically called their children to get inside before night covers everything... it was a time when humanity clearly shows its defeat. How many people would die that night? How many of them still worked, carefree and dreaming of coming home to their family? Robby hated the world for the way it was. He hated laying hands on someone and knowing that there was nothing he could do for that person any more. Hated saving a person and feeling their pain and desperation, their drowning feeling of hopelessness. Resuming his pacing, he knew that in barely a minute or two, there would be an echo of steps in the hallway outside, and Mark would call him out to meet with the rest of the gang. And Robby would leave his apartment, join the rest of them and see hundreds killed in one night. Hundreds of innocent people who just happened to be out, that same night when the Blood gang decided to rule the streets. And Robby could not do anything about it. Hearing steps echo in the hallway, he swore that this was the last time. The last time... "Robby! Let's go!" Taking one last look around the room, Robby made sure the knives were safely tucked into his sleeves and boots, then took a deep breath and walked out. The hunt was about to begin. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For Brian, the day passed in a blur. After a usual dose of his medicine, he did some fifty push-ups and then took a long shower letting cold water pour over him for fifteen minutes before getting out. That was the only way he could be absolutely, 100% awake every morning. The room service arrived right after with his breakfast, which he ate by himself. The breakfast was in Kevin's room, but not wanting to make Howie feel uncomfortable, Brian decided to eat in his room. Besides, Kevin had already told him what the schedule for the day was, and he didn't need any reminders. Photo shots before lunch for one magazine, then more photo shots after lunch for another magazine. Paul had arranged for them to have an easy day since Kevin told him that Brian was still 'weak'. The night they had off to go clubbing. Paul's exact words were 'rest and sleep', but the BSB translation was 'go out late, dance all night, and get no sleep'. Brian grinned to himself remembering how much Nick insisted that Brian joins them when they go clubbing, regardless of how uncomfortable that could make Howie feel. He said yes, although his body screamed that he could use as much sleep as he could get. Nick's smile and a bear hug were enough to shut the screams out. Morning WAS a blur. Between trying to avoid Howie and escape the people who demanded to know why he looked so unhealthy and tired, Brian ended up being completely exhausted when the break for the lunch was announced. Eating lunch with Nick and AJ, he found out that Howie still had no intention of speaking to him. It's something he could completely understand. The second photo shooting stretched out, and Brian kept looking at his watch every couple of minutes. He couldn't wait to get out of there, and stop being forced to see Howie every couple of seconds. Then finally, an hour or two after the sunset, Kevin announced that they were done for the day. Ride back to the hotel was tense, with Kevin and AJ trying to make conversation, while Brian and Howie sat as far away from each other as the space inside of the limo allowed them to be. While showering and getting ready to go out, Brian couldn't help but wonder if he should just let the guys go without him. But when the Nick showed up in his room, ready to go and psyched that Brian was coming along, Brian had no other choice. Throwing his jacket on, Brian sighed and followed Nick into the hallway. It was going to be a long night. As they were leaving the hotel, one of the bodyguards, Peter, pulled Kevin aside to quietly speak to him. They seemed to argue over something for couple of seconds, then Peter shook his head, displeased but obviously giving in. When Kevin joined them, Brian asked: "What was that about?" Kevin frowned staring after Peter: "He insisted we stay inside tonight, or at least take him and Dave along. Apparently, it's very dangerous to be out tonight... he just couldn't explain why." AJ grinned at him: "Probably another gang of girls found out what club are we gonna be at. I can just see it happening..." Knocking him upside the head, Brian smirked: "Keep your perverted visions for yourself, no one wants to listen to THAT." "Hey!" Kevin smiled too but his tone was serious: "I don't think that's what Peter was talking about. Maybe we should be cautious... just in case." AJ straightened his jacket looking at both Brian and Kevin, and although his face was straight, his voice kept its cheerfulness: "Well, you guys can spend a night being cautious... I'm gonna have some fun. Now can we go before Paul changes his mind?" That hurried them all up, and in the next 10 minutes they were loaded up inside of the limo, and on their way to club Midnight. The ride was still uncomfortable, although Brian and Howie had already gotten used to having conversations and avoiding each other's presence in the same time. Brian ended up listening to bits and pieces of different conversations and simply staring at the town streets. It never stopped surprising him how quickly the streets got empty after the night set in. Especially that night... it seemed like the town was completely dead with no living soul in sight. From time to time there would be a black shape in the street corner or behind a building wall, but it disappeared before Brian could be sure if he really saw it or if it was just his imagination. By the time they reached the club, Brian felt uneasy about the whole thing. When Howie, Nick and AJ had gotten out of the limo, Brian pulled Kevin to sit back down. He couldn't believe the sound of his voice. He sounded so... afraid: "Kevin... listen, maybe Peter was right. We should have at least brought them along." Kevin's face flashed between concern and surprise: "Why? Did you see something?" "Yes, I mean no..." Brian bit his lip mad at himself. He couldn't say anything that would convince Kevin it wasn't safe out there... he wasn't even sure if there was a reason for the way he felt. He just felt scared: "It doesn't feel right Kevin... something about all this just doesn't feel right." Staring at him for couple of seconds, Kevin sighed: "I know what you mean... this town makes me feel uncomfortable too. I can't say that to the guys though, you know how hard they had worked today just so they can have little fun. I promise I'll call Peter when we get inside and tell him to find his way here... but I think we should be fine. Besides, it's only couple of hours... what could happen?" Brian nodded to himself; Kevin was making sense. It was impossible to do anything about the way the town felt. And everyone did deserve a night off... he was just letting his tiredness get to him. Smiling back at Kevin, he said: "You're right, I'm probably overreacting. Let's just go in and have fun." Getting out of the limo, they walked up to the entrance which was already crowded with hundreds of people. They were waved over by Nick who stayed to wait for them, and slipped into the darkness of the club filled with loud music. Instantly, Brian regretted coming and felt on the verge of asking Kevin if they could leave right away. Strange but still familiar feel of someone staring at him made his skin crawl, but when he looked around, he couldn't see anyone paying any attention to them. Walking behind Nick, he stared at the blonde hair in front of him and prayed that everything turns out fine by the end of the night. The crawling of his skin mocked him with every step. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robby's hands were shaking and his throat was completely dry. Blood covered the dark sidewalk and a crumpled shape lay lifelessly in the middle of it. It had been a girl... maybe little over twelve years old with dark, almost indigo black hair. The rest of her was covered in blood and completely unrecognizable. He found her laying there and knew she was dead without touching her; he could feel the cold radiating from her body and that familiar presence of someone's soul was long gone. He wanted to scream... she had been just a child. Too young to understand what happened to her... possibly even too young to know what death really is. But she wasn't the only one. Dark shapes moved in night and Robby recognized them by the smells of blood they were covered in. Various blood from so many different people had covered Mark, and Mike, and Derrick... The Blood gang was a young one, most of them were barely a decade dead, but they were ruthless. It wasn't about feeding or recruiting... that wasn't what the hunt was all about. The sole purpose of it was killing, and the Blood made sure they killed as many as possible in one night. So far they were doing a good job. Someone's hand gripped his shoulder and he grabbed it, turning around and twisting it in his hands. Even before the person could utter a sound of protest though, Robby released his grip and stepped back. Somewhat shorter, gaunt boy, with hair color of the wet sand, rubbed his shoulder furiously glaring at Robby. His black coat looked fairly new, as if he was wearing it for the first time. Derrick was the youngest one in the gang; barely four years have passed since his death, and it still had not helped him adapt. He was the only other vampire in the gang with some humanity left in him. But compared with Robby, he might as well had been like everyone else. His voice was a broken whisper: "Easy... Everyone's been saying that you attacked more vampires than humans tonight." Derrick's eyes fell on the crumpled shape in the middle of pavement. His face showed nothing, but his whisper was barely audible and Robby had to strain to hear it: "Nice work." Derrickk had been mute since his birth. Death changed some things, and a new life almost everything about a person. Robby's gift had proved that theory to him. However, he knew that Derrick was saying what he was saying just because he had to. He had nothing against killing... but killing of children was something different. Saying nothing and letting Derrick think what he wanted to, Robby smiled making sure his teeth cruelly flashed in the dark: "It has been a nice night. You've been looking for me?" Derrick stole another glance towards a dead girl and then seemed to dismiss it from his mind: "Mike is taking five others to the club Midnight. They are about to do some public slaughter... I just thought you might be interested." Derrick knew him too well. Robby cursed under his breath. If they got in the club, it would really turn into slaughter. Especially in club Midnight, where the security was so weak that the club should have been shut down years ago. Focusing on Derrick, Robby frowned at him: "Why tell me this? You know I'll try to stop it." Derrick just shrugged avoiding his eyes: "There's been enough hunting for one night, besides it's not safe to be on open ground. All the... killings from now on are unnecessary... Mike and others are pushing it." Robby smiled slightly. Derrick wasn't against feeding but he was against unnecessary killing. He showed way too much reason for a vampire: "You're gonna make a leader one day." Before Derrick could respond, Robby was already running towards the end of the street. He would have to cross the Main Street and the most crowded part of the town to make it to the club in time. But he was ready to do anything. He finally had a chance to save a life in that night of suffering, and he wasn't about to throw it away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Finally escaping from Nick who seemed incapable of leaving the dance floor, Brian returned back to their table and gratefully sat back into the comfortable seat. The night was wearing him off, and he had already been tired, but now he wondered if he could make it through the rest of the night without falling asleep. He could just sit and stare as Nick kept dancing as if he didn't spend the whole day one his feet already. Girls seemed to get glued to Nick's side once they got close to him, but Nick didn't mind, dancing with each one of them and giving each one an equal amount of attention. Brian had never seen Nick seriously date a girl, but he was pretty sure that the younger boy wasn't a virgin and that he knew what to do around girls. Brian himself wasn't a virgin. He lost a count of the girls he had sex with... but not because he enjoyed it; just the opposite. When he was younger, he was convinced that all he had to do was find an experienced girl, and the things would be different. He had sex with many experienced girls since then... some of them obviously knew what they were doing. Nothing changed. After a while Brian gave up... he never considered a fact that he might be gay. Something like that was way too ridiculous for him to think about. He simply couldn't enjoy sex until he found a girl he was in love with; that was his theory. And he had kept it for years already. Deciding he could use some air, Brian left the crowded room, and exiting the club found himself out in the dark street. The street was completely dead, the only sound made by crowd inside of the club mixed with loud music. The rest of the world might not have even existed. Keeping close to the exit so he could slip back in at any minute, he felt his skin crawl again. Something in the air felt strange... like a presence of something Brian should be fairly familiar with... but he couldn't remember what that something was. Suddenly feeling alarmingly uneasy, Brian turned to walk back inside the club, when a dark shape cut his way. It was a man... tall and wrapped in black coat to his ankles... he moved towards Brian and Brian felt the crawling of his skin turn to uncontrollable shaking. The man's expression turned from pleasant face of a 20-year old, into a twisted expression of an inhuman creature with hungry eyes. He smiled and Brian felt scream rise in his throat, but the shock that gripped his body would not let him make a sound. Someone's hands grabbed his throat and he tried to claw them away, almost succeeding when another set of hands grabbed his arms. He fought, ignoring the faces that made him sick, fought even when he felt blood trickle down his face and eyes... fought until he lost his conscience. Sorry about the cliffhanger but the next chapter will be out soon