Taylor was glad to have something to look at besides the gray buildings
around him. He couldn’t help
pulling it up to his nose, but he was disappointed that it only smelled like him
and not the little girl who’d given it to him.
He looked up as two men stepped behind them from the shadows.
Doors were opened and buttons pushed and soon he found himself in the
same place he’d been before, only this time, there were only two of the
despised men there. “I wish
you’d have let us know you’d be coming early.”
Daniel stated. “We’d
have had more of a welcome planned out.”
He said, looking at Taylor. He
smiled, “I see you brought your teddy…”
He said.
“Fuck off.” Beatriz
said. “I brought it.
It’s all he has left of his home.”
He bowed to her, “Yes, Madame. I
shall treat it with the respect it deserves.”
The one known as Balthazar stepped up, his young looking face shaded by a
baseball cap, “Is this all you brought? You
do know you’re going to be living
here, right?” Taylor didn’t
respond.
“He knows.” Daniel said,
looking at Beatriz.
“Very well.” Balthazar
said. “He just seems a little
unprepared.”
Beatriz turned her eyes to him, “And what exactly does he need to be
prepared for?” She asked.
“I’m still not sure I understand what this is about.”
“It’s about a powerful young vampire being trained the way he should
be.” He answered her.
Kirk watched, thinking it strange for Beatriz to be talked to
in that way by someone who looked barely older than a child.
“I don’t care for this.” She
said, stepping closer to him. “I
claimed him. He’s mine.
This is not the way it’s supposed to work.”
“Nothing about him is the way it’s supposed
to be.” Daniel cut in.
Beatriz looked back at him, “He’s mine.”
She said.
Daniel looked over at Taylor, “What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing. He doesn’t
want to be here.” She said and
she walked over and sat down on the leather couch in the sitting area.
“And, he hasn’t fed.” She
added.
“Can he speak for himself?” Balthazar
asked. She looked away.
Daniel shook his head and looked at Kirk and Robert.
“Good evening.” He said.
“Of course, you would be Kirk. Moving
up in the world, are we?”
Kirk didn’t roll his eyes, but he wanted to.
“I’m just carrying the bags, sir.”
He answered.
“Well, I hear you’ve moved into the Penthouse.”
He said.
“Not really. I still have
my own place in the city.” Kirk
answered. “I just stay there when
I’m needed.”
Daniel smiled, “Yes, all those lovely females must need you quite
often.” He said.
Kirk didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.
Daniel turned his attention to Robert, “I believe you were the first to
notice this young one’s powers. What
do you think of him now that you’ve had more time to observe him?”
“I don’t know that we’ve seen what he’s capable of.”
Robert said. “My opinion
is unchanged. I believe he’s
powerful, but he’s also young. If
he’s taught well, he could be quite an asset.”
“I suppose we’ll just have to take your word for it.”
Balthazar said, looking at Taylor. “I’ve
only seen a boy who’s attractive to the ladies and is afraid of his own
shadow.”
“Then I don’t think you’ve been looking.”
Robert said. “As I said,
he is young and inexperienced. Being
trained by the women makes one soft. But,
perhaps I read more into things than there is.”
Daniel sat down next to Beatriz. “Perhaps.
But, we shall see, won’t we?” He
said.
“I don’t know why you surround
yourself with these idiots.”
Beatriz
said silently. Daniel smiled.
“Why is the boy drugged?”
He said back to her. Both
of them watched as Taylor allowed the others to talk about him as if he
weren’t there; a defense mechanism he’d used before.
“Because I didn’t think we’d
get him here, otherwise.”
She
answered.
“Taylor,” Daniel said, “would you like to see your room?”
“Do I have to stay here?” Taylor
asked, making a sound for the first time since they’d left Beatriz’
apartment.
“Yes.” He answered.
“It works best that way.”
“What works best that way? What
do you want from me?” Taylor
asked.
“Your cooperation.” Daniel
stated. “We just want to know
what all the fuss is about.” He
said. “The young ones have
decided you are their messiah, and they usually can sense things. I actually
would have predicted that you’d be dead by now. We’d
just like to see what is so special about you, and perhaps welcome you into our
fold.”
“But I like it fine where I am. I
don’t want to live here and I don’t want to be trained or whatever and I’m
nobody’s messiah.” Taylor said.
“I’m sure you do like it there.”
Balthazar laughed. “Sitting
on top of the world, having your meals brought to you by servants--”
Now Taylor looked at him, “I don’t have any servants.
I go out and find my supper like everyone else does.”
“Of course.” The man
answered, not concealing his mockery.
Beatriz stood, sensing Taylor was about to go off.
His mind was flitting to and fro between fright and anger and a host of
other things she felt best to hide from the men who were studying him.
“Come on, let’s see this fancy room of yours.”
She said, taking his arm. “Make
sure you bring that guitar, Kirk. I
doubt they fancy the arts here…”
Daniel furrowed his brow. He’d
been trying to get inside Taylor’s head, but he’d been blocked fairly
thoroughly. And when the boy had
let his guard down, Beatriz had jumped in and moved things in another direction.
“Yes, it’s this way.” He
said, standing and taking them down the hallway that led to the room they’d
given Taylor. Like the one in
Beatriz’ apartment, it had every luxury one could think of.
The décor was less ornate, more structural; the walls were a charcoal
gray and the bedspread and the curtains were black.
Cabinets and tables were of chrome and shiny black surfaces.
“Well, isn’t this homey?” Beatriz
said. “I was right in assuming
they’d have every electronic gadget at your fingertips. That’s so thoughtful
of you.” She said, looking at
Daniel. Then she looked into
Taylor’s eyes, “I put all your videos and your CD’s and things in your
bag.
Your papers are in a box.
I tried to keep them in order, but you know, with them lying all over the
place, it was hard…” His eyes
were killing her. She could tell
his senses were returning to him and she prayed he’d be able to keep his wits
about him. “Be very, very careful.” She
said.
He sat down on the bed and Kirk handed him the guitar again.
“Thanks.” He
said.
“So, what kind of visitation rights do I get?”
Beatriz said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Daniel chuckled, “You’re so pissed right now.
I’ve never seen you so un-nerved.”
She didn’t alter her expression. “Oh,
you have no idea how pissed I am.” She
answered. “I’ll know it if you
hurt him.” She said softly.
She stepped closer to Daniel, “I don’t think you understand what he
means to me. Hell hath no fury like
a woman scorned.”
“You’ll still see him.” He
answered. “We have no intentions
of scorning you.” He looked at Balthazar, “Isn’t that right?”
He said.
“Absolutely. We’ve seen
your fury, Lady.” He joked.
Now she smiled, “Have you, now?”
“Yes, I believe we have.” He
answered.
“Very good. Then I won’t
tell you that you’ll regret it if anything happens that makes me unhappy.
I want to see him regularly.
He is mine and that is my right as well as his sire’s.
There can be no disputes about it. Everyone
knows it.” She said.
“I’m sure he’s wearing the pendant, just to remind us?”
Daniel asked. He looked over
at Taylor.
She shrugged, “He wears if it he wants to.
He doesn’t need it anymore. It’s
just something that everyone knows.”
Balthazar looked at the boy as well, “Yes, I’m sure it has saved his
life numerous times.”
“Possibly.” She said.
Daniel turned to Robert, “Thank you for coming here this evening.
We just wanted to keep you abreast of things, since you’d had concerns.
We may be contacting you about his training and such.”
“If I can be of service, please call.”
Robert said, though he knew he could no longer teach Taylor anything.
But, if they wanted him there, he’d be there.
Keep your enemies close, he thought.
He turned to see Taylor’s eyes on him.
“Good evening, young master.” He
said, and Taylor looked away, fingering the strings of the guitar beside him.
“Lady Beatriz, we shall also keep you informed, though, it’s probably
not necessary. I’m sure you have
little informants all over the city.” Daniel
said.
“As do you.” She said
back. She turned to Taylor, “Call
me whenever you need me. I’ll hear you. I put
your cell phone in your backpack.”
“Don’t leave me here.”
“I have no choice, and neither do you.
They’ll kill you if they think you’re doing anything against them.”
“Don’t leave me here alone.”
He said aloud.
She threw a look at Daniel. “You’re
not alone.” She said.
“We’ll still see each other. I’ll
stop in and see you often, and I’m sure I’ll see you out in the big wide
world.” She stepped over to the
bed and reached down and kissed him, “I shall miss you more than you know.
And I’ll let you know what’s going on with Camille and Melanie and
all your loved ones.” He knew
what she meant, but it didn’t make it any easier to know that he would be left
there without her.
“Can Kirk stay?” Taylor
asked. He looked up at Daniel.
“Oh, I think not. Kirk has
his own life and he has things to do, I’m sure.
There are always people coming and going here, you won’t be bored.”
Daniel said.
“How old is he?” Balthazar
asked.
“Seventeen at the hour of his death.”
Beatriz said. “Kirk, we
should be leaving. We have things
to tend to in the city.” She
walked out into the hallway. Robert
stood there and they exchanged looks. “Please
let me know how things progress here, assuming that’s allowed.”
She said.
“Yes, of course.” He
said.
Balthazar came out of the room and shut the door behind him.
“I believe that is all the business we have tonight.
We shall contact you if needed.” He
said.
Beatriz turned, hating to hear Taylor referred to as “business”, but
feeling at that moment, that she had no recourse but to go along with whatever
it was they were doing. She walked
toward the door, followed by the other two.
Once on the street, she went straight to the car and stood, waiting for
Kirk to get there.
Robert stopped Kirk, “Tell her I shall contact her.”
He said, knowing they were probably being listened to.
Kirk nodded, then went to the car
and unlocked the door and hit the button to unlock the passenger side.
“I think I shall walk.” Beatriz
said suddenly.
“Walk? That’s an awfully
long walk.” He said, looking
around him. “And this is a scary
looking neighborhood. I wouldn’t
really even call it a neighborhood…”
She cocked her head at him, “Kirk, I’d pay someone to attack me right
now. Really.
I’m in the mood to rip someone’s head off their shoulders.”
He knew she meant it; quite literally, in fact.
“I mean, well, I know you can take care of yourself and all—“
“Go on. Sonya will be
wanting to know what’s going on. I
strayed a bit from our original plan. Have
yourself a pretty morsel, then go back to the penthouse.”
She looked at her watch, “I’m sure she’ll be done soon enough with
her duties.”
“Alright.” He said.
“Call if you need anything, though.”
He looked at her, “I’m sure everything will end up okay, don’t you
think?” He asked.
She looked at him for a moment, “I’ll call if I need you.”
She said, and she walked away from him.
~~~~~
“So, son—I see you’ve brought plenty of things to watch and listen
to. What else did you bring,
besides your little brown friend?” Daniel
asked.
Taylor sat the little bear on the pillow beside him.
“Clothes.” He
said.
“Do you own a car?” Balthazar
asked.
“No. Beatriz says you
don’t need one in the city.” Taylor
answered.
“Perhaps not. But we are a
little ways out of the city. We
prefer not to be in the thick of things.”
The man said back.
“How old were you?” Taylor
asked.
“Fourteen.” He answered.
“When I was fourteen, I sold eight million records and I got three
Grammy nominations with my brothers. But,
I didn’t feel any different than before.”
Taylor said.
“That’s quite an accomplishment.”
Daniel said.
“Yeah, I guess. It just
led to my death, though. I wish
I’d just finished school and stuff.” He
lay back on the bed, “I could be at home right now, going through college
catalogs…” He mused.
“Well, your life is going
to be much more exciting than that. Here
with us, you can have anything you want—“
“I already had that.” Taylor
interrupted. “Can I have my
family come here and live with me? ‘Cause,
that’s what I want.” He said,
his eyes now meeting Daniel’s. “Can
I sing and write with my brothers, and do shows for the fans?
‘Cause, that’s what I want.”
“I believe you already know the answer to those questions, so I won’t
go into that with you.” Daniel
said. “But, if there are things
that you can have that you’d like,
then please, let us know, and it will be done.”
Taylor turned to face him, “I don’t want anything.”
He said, closing his eyes.
“I believe Beatriz said you needed to feed.
Would you like a middle eastern girl?
A girl with a British accent? Or
perhaps you prefer a man who’d put up a fight.”
He smiled, “Or one that wouldn’t?”
“I’m not hungry.” Taylor
said, his eyes still closed.
“You need not feel hunger in order to feed.”
Daniel said.
“I’m tired. I don’t
want anything.” The boy replied.
The man stood, “Very well. But
it may help to clear your head. Those
people you love so much seem to have drugged you in order to get you here.”
“I don’t love them.” Taylor
said, still unmoving.
Daniel shook his head, thinking the next few days would be long, but
hopefully, worth the trouble.
~~~~~
Isaac stood in Taylor’s room, looking out the window, into the dark
leaves of the tree outside the window. The
moon shone through now and then as the wind blew, even though the sun was about
to rise. He knew they were there;
he could feel them. He’d felt
them for a while now, but he just told himself he was being silly.
Zac stepped into the room, “Hey, whatcha doin’?”
He said.
Isaac turned, “Nothing. Just
thinking.” He said.
“Mr. Jones emailed Mom. He
said they got him there and everything went okay and stuff.”
Zac said.
Isaac sighed, “That’s good.” He
said. He looked at his younger
brother. He was already nearly as
tall as him and he was five years older. “Look,
Zac—I’m sorry I told Mr. Jones. I
just felt like it was the right thing to do.”
“I know. It probably
was.” Zac replied.
He turned back toward the hallway, the light giving him a
halo effect around his blonde head. “Isabella’s
up again. I’m gonna go give Mom a
break.” He said.
“Alright.” Isaac said.
“I’ll be down in a minute. I’m
sure Lijah’ll be right behind her.” He
watched Zac go down the steps, leaving him again with his own thoughts.
~~~~~
Sonya came into the apartment and threw her backpack down next to the
couch. Kirk sat, watching a re-run
of “Friends” on the television. “Where
is everybody?” She asked.
“I thought this place would be running over with craziness.”
She sat up, “Taylor got home, didn’t he?”
“Yeah. He made it.
He was pretty trippy though.” He
said, flipping off the TV.
“I figured he would be. I
know Mr. Jones was pretty certain that he wasn’t going to come home on his
own.” She said.
Kirk smirked, “Yeah, well, I don’t think he had any say in the
matter. They opened up that
thing,” he said, gesturing to the safe that still sat, its door open, “and
he was all folded up in there all neat and pretty, like a sweater. He was so
obviously drugged or something…” He
shook his head. “I’m glad I’m
just a lowly third class citizen.” He
sighed, “So, anyway—the way things were going, Beatriz decided to just go on
and take him.”
Sonya leaned in closer, “He was drugged?
Wait, he’s gone already?” She
asked, her face distraught.
He shook his head, “Yeah.”
She sat back in the chair, and crossed her arms over her chest, “Man,
that sucks. That’s fucking
bullshit.” She spat.
“Tell me about it. I got
to carry the bags and stuff. She
was crying and he was just comatose or something—but he totally knew what was
going on. I felt like I was taking
my loyal dog to the pound or something.”
Sonya shook her head, letting it sink in.
She turned to Kirk again, “What makes you think he was drugged?
Perhaps it was just the sleep coming on, he’s young after all.”
Kirk raised an eyebrow, “If you woulda seen it, you’d think that too.
Like I said, he was just all squashy in there, and we had to sort of pull
him up to stand, then he fell out of the thing, didn’t even bother to raise
his leg—just, blam. And he was
laughing. It was pretty obvious,
even though Mr. Jones and Beatriz tried to just blow it off.”
“Why would they do that, though? I
mean, they had Camille and Melanie there. Morning
was here, he’d have fallen asleep again like that.”
She snapped her fingers.
Kirk leaned forward, “I’d guess he didn’t want to come home, and
Mr. Jones just did whatever he had to do in order to get him here.
Whatever it was, it was killer stuff.”
“And Beatriz just decided to take him right then?”
Sonya was mystified.
Kirk looked at the clock, knowing even Beatriz couldn’t stay out much
longer. Camille and Melanie had
already come back. Of course,
Camille was devastated even more than Sonya, or at least more openly.
Kirk shrugged, “Maybe she felt the same way Mr. Jones did.
Like, it’d be the only way to get him there.
I’ve seen Taylor in action. Not
very often, but when he really gets riled up…”
He whispered, “I don’t know that Beatriz could control him then.”
Sonya sighed. “Maybe
so…” She mused.
They didn’t say anything else, just sat there quietly, in their own
thoughts until the elevator came up.
Beatriz stepped out, looking worn. “What
are you still doing up, Kirk?” She
asked, tossing her shoes off.
“I don’t know, I guess I was just waiting for you.
Did things go okay?” He
asked, yawning.
She stepped closer and he could actually see blood on her mouth.
“Yes. Things
went just peachy.” She muttered.
She placed her head in her hands, “God as my witness, someday, I’m
going to see them all dead.”
“So, you just went on and took him?”
Sonya said. Her annoyance
was barely hidden.
“He was…” She paused,
“…really upset when I told him he’d be leaving here.”
“Well, I can imagine.” Sonya
said. “Especially on top of the
other revelations he’s had the past few days.”
For a moment, their eyes had locked, Sonya’s greenish blue with the
black eyes of Beatriz. “Yes,
especially after that.” Her face
hardened, “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I want to step up whatever it
is that we’re doing. This has
become serious. It’s very
possible that they know what’s going on.
They could be killing him right now…”
She said, her voice shaky.
“God, I’d hope not. I’d
think they’d have killed him already if that was what they were wanting.
It would have been easy to have just had one of their
henchmen kill him and make it look like someone else did it.
They’ve certainly done it before.”
Sonya stated. The
clock chimed, letting them know it was 6:30.
Sonya looked at Kirk; he’d fallen asleep right there on the sofa.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do tonight.”
She said. “If they give me
some stupid job, I’m going to have someone else do it.
I really think they’ve come up with all these sudden emergencies just
to keep me busy.”
“I’m afraid you’re probably right.”
Beatriz stated. She stood,
“Shall we leave him here?” She
asked.
Sonya looked over at the man, knowing he’d be heavy.
“I guess we should take him in the girls’ room…”
She breathed.
“God knows I’ve carried plenty of bodies this week.”
Beatriz grabbed him under the arms, much like she did Taylor when he
passed out in the same manner. Kirk,
however, was much more solidly built, “You take his feet.”
She said. As they carried
him, they continued to talk, “Tomorrow night, we’re going to get whoever we
need in here and figure this thing out to a tee.
I want to know what we’re doing and when, and I don’t want any
mistakes. This has to happen now.
They’re totally overstepping their bounds here, and they’re not even
trying to hide it.” She said,
backing into the room.
Grunting as they placed him up on the bed, they pushed him towards the
wall, taking Melanie with him. In
the other bed, Camille lay, her arms thrown around Taylor’s pillow.
“Hmmm…I’m surprised she’s not sleeping in his bed.”
Sonya said.
“If they hurt him—“, Beatriz closed her eyes a moment, “I don’t
know what I’d do.” She said,
her anger turning to sadness.
“They won’t. They have
to know they’d be causing everyone to turn against them.”
Sonya said.
“I hope you’re right.” Beatriz
said, and they left the room to retire for the day.
