“Zac, you’re never gonna be able to forget any of that, so don’t even try. Just be thankful we can still see him sometimes and that we got to be together so much before. We had a great time, didn’t we?” Isaac asked.
Zac just looked at him. “Yeah, I guess we did, but was it worth it?”
“I’d say no if I thought it was the reason things are the way they are now, but it’s not. Sometimes things happen, Zac. Look at Kirk or Melanie, they weren’t famous and it happened to them.” Isaac reasoned. Zac turned his head and looked again at the beautiful room, letting his brother’s words sink in. “In fact, Tay may be the only famous one. I mean, I doubt that Elvis is lurking around drinking people’s blood and stuff, y’know?”
Zac rolled his eyes and turned back to face Isaac, “Yeah, but maybe he is, Ike. Maybe Jim Morrison is one too, and John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix.” Now a smile crossed his face, “Hey, maybe they only pick the greatest musicians and Hanson was better than we thought…”
Isaac laughed, “Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that, man. And when they all get together to play a gig, Tay better get me tickets!” Even as the two boys moods lightened, the sky was darkening and in a room down the hall, their brother was beginning to awaken.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor’s eyes fluttered open and when he looked up, he looked into the violet eyes of Camille. “Hey,” she said with a smile on her lips.
“Hey.” He said back.
“Are you awake?” She asked, reaching her finger out and stroking his cheek.
“Yeah.” He sighed.
Her brow furrowed, “What’s wrong?” She asked gently.
For a moment, Taylor didn’t say anything. She watched him close his eyes for a moment, then open them again and look at her, “Camille, do you ever dream?” He asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered, “I guess it depends on what you mean. I have dreams, things that I want to do or accomplish. People that I want to meet….” She said with a smile.
“No, I mean, like while you sleep—do you have dreams when we die when the sun’s up?” He said.
She shook her head, “Taylor, we don’t “die” when the sun comes up. And no, I don’t dream.”
His steely gaze locked on her eyes, he replied, “Yes we do, or else we’d dream.” He then turned over, “I think I had a dream last night though. I dreamed my brothers were here and we were just sitting around and stuff, like we always used to.” He turned back over to look at her again. “What?” He said as a smile came across her face again.
“You weren’t dreaming, Taylor. Can’t you smell them? There’s a bed right there.” She said, pointing to the unmade bed.
Sitting up, he raised his face to the air and took in the scents of his brothers. Indeed, he could easily discern now Isaac’s aftershave and shampoo from his own bathroom in Tulsa. “I’m not crazy!” He said, jumping up from the bed and crossing the room in seconds. Camille hurried to catch up with him and saw him just as he launched himself onto the couch and his startled little brother. Isaac laughed from where he stood next to the window as Zac tried to gather his wits about him. It wasn’t often Taylor had pinned the boy and it was an odd occurrence. “God, I thought I just dreamed you!” He blurted out.
Zac’s heart was beating a mile a minute as he looked up into the bright eyes of his brother. His knees were on either side of him and his hands were planted firmly on his shoulders. Taylor was heavy and immovable and again Zac was reminded that they were very different from each other now. “Dude! You scared the crap out of me!” He scolded him.
Taylor only smiled down on him, then leaned in to smell his hair, “God, you smell so good! You smell like Mom.” He said, then he pulled his hands back and allowed Zac to sit up. “Ike!” He exclaimed, “what are we gonna do tonight?! How long are you guys here for?”
Isaac chuckled and walked over to the couch. He knew Zac was a bit uncomfortable and he hoped Taylor wouldn’t notice. “I don’t know man, what do you usually do for fun here?”
Taylor looked up to see Sonya and Beatriz sitting across the room, watching. “Um, I don’t know. I haven’t really had much fun here.”
“Tay, this is New York City, you can’t tell me there’s nothing to do.” Isaac said.
Taylor looked over at Beatriz and Sonya again expectantly. Isaac and Zac watched, as they all seemed to communicate, their eyes going from one to the other. Sonya spoke finally, “Well, you have to take Kirk with you. I don’t trust the girls.”
“Hey!” Camille let her presence be known. “I wanted to go with them!”
Beatriz stood up, “You frighten young Zac. I agree with Sonya, you stay here.”
“But—” she started, but was silenced with a look from the older woman. With a huff, she plopped down in the chair opposite the three boys. Taylor stood up and walked behind the chair, then leaned down and whispered something in her ear, gently touching her cheek with his fingers.
Mr. Jones walked in carrying the shirt he’d laid out earlier, “Please tell me you weren’t going to wear the same clothes for the third day in a row.” He said, ignoring the moment passing between Taylor and Camille.
Taylor stood up, “Um, I believe I put this shirt on clean yesterday, thank you.” He said, unbuttoning the silky, red one he’d worn out the night before.
“I stand corrected, young master. Far be it from me to point out any uncleanliness on your part.” Mr. Jones said, holding out the shirt.
“Far be it, my ass…” Taylor muttered as he took the shirt from the man. He slipped off the silk one and dropped it to the floor, then he pulled on the blue, denim, liking the feel of it far better. Mr. Jones bent down to pick up the garment but Taylor beat him to it, “You don’t have to pick up after me.” He said, then he draped it across the back of the couch. Mr. Jones stepped back and bowed to him, eliciting a shake of the head from the boy, “Would you cut it out, geez…” he said, embarrassed. Isaac and Zac just watched, taking it all in.
“Enjoy your evening, sir.” The man said, and he turned and headed back down the hall.
“You, too.” Taylor called to him as he sat back down on the couch. Isaac had perched on the arm of the sofa. “Hey,” Taylor said to him, “what should we do? Really? I mean, I guess we could catch a movie, or some music somewhere.” He looked up at his brother expectantly.
Isaac raised his eyebrows, “Whatever you want to do is cool with me, just don’t forget Zac’s still too young to get in bars and stuff. Which is a good thing.” He eyed Taylor.
Taylor smiled, “Alright, I’m with ya.” He leaned back and looked over at Zac, “Any ideas?”
“A flick sounds good to me. And I’m hungry again, let’s get something to eat first.” Zac said, standing.
Just then, Melanie and Kirk walked into the room. “Ooooh, look who’s here!” Melanie exclaimed, walking towards Zac. Before she could get too close to him, Taylor stepped between the two. For a moment, their eyes met and neither Zac nor Isaac were certain what was going down. Then, the girl backed up a little and smiled, “I don’t know what your problem is Jordan, I’d protect him like he was my own brother.”
“You don’t have a brother,” Taylor said, narrowing his eyes, “and you better keep your paws off mine.”
Beatriz walked up next to the two, “Taylor, I’m sure Melanie knows better than to ever harm a hair on the head of any one in your family. Isn’t that right, Melanie?” she said.
“Yes, that’s right.” The girl said, and Isaac almost thought her feelings had been hurt, as she cast her eyes away from Taylor and sat down next to Camille.
Kirk noticed the sudden tension in the room and walked over to Isaac, “Hey, Dude, how’s it been going? I’ve sorta been missin’ that old bus.” He laughed.
Isaac laughed too, “Yeah, I’ll bet you have. Things have been alright, I guess. How about here?”
Kirk looked over at Taylor, “Same ol’, same ol’.” He smiled. He then turned to Camille, “Hey, did you tell Taylor about your surprise?”
Her eyes brightened, as she looked up at him, “No! I almost forgot!” She stood up and practically ran over to Taylor, “Um,” she said quietly, “before you leave, I need to show you something…”
He drew his eyebrows together in curiosity, “What is it?” He asked.
She looked around the room, almost shyly, “Just…come down to my room before you leave, ok?”
“Well,” he said, looking over at his brothers, “we’re about to leave, is now ok?”
Her eyes went around the room, and she nodded and grabbed his hand, pulling him down the hallway. Isaac and Zac watched, both wondering what was going on. Beside them, Melanie and Kirk gave each other knowing looks as Beatriz and Sonya both searched the minds of the younger ones to find out what Camille’s surprise was.
The closer to the girls’ room they got, Taylor began to smell something familiar. “What’s going on?” He asked, smiling at Camille’s excitement.
“You’ll see…” she said. She opened the door to her room, pulled Taylor inside, then shut the door behind him. He looked into her excited eyes and again, a scent came to him that he knew. It was a smell of fear, but it was mixed with…coffee. He jerked his head around and there on Camille’s bed, her arms bound behind her back, as well as her ankles, was Jill, the girl from the coffee shop. Her eyes were covered by a blindfold and in her mouth, a gag. If not for the smell of her, he would have been hard put to recognize her, her bright red hair being the only feature he could really see.
“Camille!!!” He said as he rushed over to the girl.
“I knew you liked her!” Camille smiled.
Taylor stopped, just short of untying the girl, then looked back at Camille, “What the hell did you do?!” He spat silently. “You can’t just kidnap people!!!”
“But, she liked you…” Camille stepped closer, not understanding why Taylor wasn’t thanking her. “I just wanted to make you happy, I knew you’d been missing your family. I didn’t know your brothers were coming, or I would have saved the surprise for some other time.” Taylor closed his eyes for a moment, realizing the girl saw nothing wrong with what she’d done. She’d only thought of his happiness, not thinking for a moment how frightening it would be for Jill to be held prisoner for hours while the rest of the house slept the day away. “Don’t you like her?” She asked.
“Yes, I like her a lot—” he started.
Camille clapped her hands, “Oh, I knew you would! You know, they told you not to take from the same person and stuff, but hey, it’s been almost a month—it’s not like you’re gonna change her or anything, right?” She said, and she plopped down on the bed next to the two of them. “Plus, she still smells all cappuccino and stuff…” she said, and she leaned in and smelled the girl, wrinkling up her nose. “I don’t know why you like that icky coffee smell, but whatever.” She said, leaning back on the pillow and placing her hands behind her head.
Taylor just looked at her for a moment, then over at the girl between them. “Camille—” he said, then he shook his head. He’d been rendered speechless.
“What?” She asked. Then she smiled at him, “You know, really, it works out perfectly, ‘cause now, you don’t have to feed with your brothers around. You can just do it now, and you don’t have to worry about it anymore tonight.” She said brightly.
Suddenly, the gift was not so unwanted. The crime was not so heinous. She watched his eyes as they lit on the girl, then back on her. Slowly, he reached over and pulled the blindfold off the girl. At once, she squinted at the lights of the room and looked up at him, her eyes shining with fear and unshed tears, then, something else; recognition. She’d dreamt of his face every night since she’d first seen him. She’d cried when she’d watched a boy who looked just like him die on a stage, played over and over on every station on every television she saw for a week or more. She’d almost begun to think she’d dreamed him up and that he hadn’t really been in her apartment that night. Even in the position she was in, she felt relief—relief that she wasn’t insane. And she felt an almost overpowering attraction to the boy in front of her. In her mind, she heard his voice, “Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.” He ran his hand through her silky hair, then he reached behind her and untied the bonds on her wrists. She pulled them back in front of her, flinching at the pain it caused, then watched as the boy gently took her hands in his. He pulled them up to his face and turned them over, his tongue touching the tender skin and his breath cooling it all in one motion. He then put his own finger up to his lips as he used the other hand to untie the scarf in her mouth. His eyes he’d locked on hers and she couldn’t have screamed if she’d wanted to. And he definitely did not want her to, as the last thing he wanted was for his brothers to come in and see him having his way with a girl, tied up and gagged in the bed of another. Camille had backed up and leaned against the wall, watching with fascination and a little envy as the boy she loved touched the soft, warm skin of the living, breathing girl she’d captured for him. Slowly, he stretched out his long legs, moving his body closer to the girl. Camille was certain neither of them had blinked, Taylor’s aqua coloured eyes and Jill’s earthy green meeting in a stormy gaze as his tongue snaked out to soothe her sore lips. She watched as with a flick of his wrist, the binds around the girl’s ankles mysteriously snapped and her legs were free. With admiration, she watched, knowing Taylor’s powers had already surpassed her own and that they were getting stronger every day as Beatriz and Sonya worked with him.
“Why do I love you?” Jill asked, the sound of her voice pulling Camille back to what was happening between the two.
“You don’t love me.” Taylor said softly, gently kissing her earlobe, causing the girls eyes to roll up into her head. One hand he’d brought between them, unbuttoning her blouse; the stains on the front and the strong smell of coffee letting Taylor know they’d grabbed her on her way home from work rather than on the way there. “Mmm, you taste so good…” he muttered as he ran his cold hands across her warm skin where the blouse had fallen open. His hunger wasn’t so great this time that he didn’t take the time to admire her body. Her nipples still had the tiny silver rings looped through them and now, as he began to push her skirt down, he saw that her navel had one as well.
“What’s your name?” She asked, pulling back and looking at his face.
“I don’t have a name.” He breathed as he ran his hand up her stomach and over her chest to rest on her throat. Gently, he placed his thumb on her chin and pushed her head back, exposing her creamy neck. The blue vein was pulsing there and to his eyes, it was as bright as neon. He felt his fangs as they pressed against his bottom lip. Camille watched as he prepared to sink them into the girl. His other hand had gone down to the dark triangle of hair that would have been much more inviting to a living boy of seventeen than a tiny vein silently doing it’s job. But, this was no ordinary boy. He only touched her there because she seemed to enjoy it. At least she had the last time he’d been with her. And the more excited they became, the faster and hotter the blood that streamed into his waiting mouth. She had parted her legs now and placed her own hand over his, urging him to press further into her. Just as he thrust his fingers into the warm, slick folds of her vagina, he thrust the two sharp canines into her throat. She gasped and he felt her tighten around him. At once, he eased her mind, letting her know he wouldn’t hurt her. Camille could smell the blood and the sex and was finding herself aroused. She moved over in the bed and up towards the two entwined there, but before she could make a move towards either, she was met with the blue-green eyes of Taylor. She hesitated, for a moment, not sure of the signals she was getting. She slowly put her hand out towards the girl, but jerked it back when Taylor’s head shot up and he let out a growl at her, blood running down his chin and dripping with a splat onto Jill’s chest. Now, the signal was unmistakable.
Slowly, she backed away and carefully placed her foot back onto the cold floor. She’d never seen him react in such a way, and she wasn’t certain what to do. His eyes hadn’t left her and she was actually finding herself afraid of him. She watched Jill’s hand snake up her body to touch the wet pool that had gathered in the crook of her neck. Finally, Taylor released his gaze on Camille and took the girl’s hand before she could look at it. He pulled it to his lips and licked the blood from her fingers, then he kissed her mouth linking his hand with hers, before moving back to her throat and the tantalizing fare that awaited him.