Chapter Five - The Outsider
Back to the current time.
A black Mustang weaved back and forth downhill, approaching a white building. The street lights around the building were lit with such an extreme intensity of light, it almost seemed like daylight. The mustang went down a dip that led under the white building and stopped in front of a gate.
Inside the car, Leora rubbed her eyes. “Why are those so bright?” she complained.
“Didn’t I tell you not to look at them?” said Elijah. He removed his sunglasses. “UV lights so your kind don’t decide we’re easy prey. Or for the weed. Probably both.”
The gates opened up after Elijah clicked on the gate opener he had in his car. Once opened, he drove the car into and parked at the spot that was near a door. The car doors opened.
“Ugh, can’t you guys make a spell,” said Leora as she exited the car.
“Well, that’s what they did in the old days,” said Elijah as he exited his car as well. “Until some vampire seduced a witch and got hold of his grimoire. Next thing we knew, a bunch of vampires were crashing coven meetings and, well, a few wars broke out. It really sucks whoever turned you. They just left you and did not teach you about our fantastic rivalry.” He shook his head.
From what Elijah could piece up, since Leora wasn’t so forthcoming about her past, possibly too embarrassed about it, she was turned into a vampire a year ago in New York. She was walking one night when a vampire took her. The next thing she knew she awoke in the Metropolitan Museum. She was alone and now a vampire with no one to teach her how to be one. For a year she just stayed at the Metropolitan, apparently feeding on the security guard, before deciding to ship herself to San Francisco in the crate he had found her in to search for her sire.
As interesting as her origin story was, it didn’t explain why sunlight did not hurt her. Was her sire the same way? Who was her sire? He knew it couldn’t be House Eagle. His mother and the Bloodmoons would be raiding their headquarters if she knew if even one of them could walk in daylight.
Leora herself had no idea how and just accepted it as is. However, for him, it was a mystery that could prove useful for him in the future. So he offered his place for her stay as she searched for the vampire that had turned her.
“That’s not what Google says about the witch and vampire wars,” said Leora.
“Oh for the Horned God, you need to get off of that. Not everything on the internet is true,” said Elijah. He went to the door. He opened it and there was a short hallway that led to an elevator.
They started down the hall and, as they passed by a group of mailboxes, Elijah pursed his lips as he remembered today’s date. “Did you pay rent yet?” he asked.
“Yeah, just left an envelope in the mailbox. Yes, I addressed it to your mom. Didn’t want you to get on my case again,” said Leora, mumbling the last sentence.
“I can’t save you if my mom finds out that you are a vampire,” said Elijah. “If you didn’t pay rent then she was going to think you are my….” He stopped himself before completing the thought. He would throw up right then and there if he did.
“Your mom is weird. Why would she think you and I were anything but roommates?” However, Leora already knew the answer. She just wanted to complain.
They reached and entered the elevator.
"Kinda hard to explain why a twenty year old woman is living in my apartment," said Elijah. "I had to say you were my roommate and that, umm, you were under witness protection."
"And she believed that?" said Leora before pushing the number of their floor they were on.
"Well, I added the whole part about sacrificing you later and stuff," said Elijah. “Why are we having this conversation again?” The museum incident made his mother convinced that someone--very likely Hammer--was after him. Only recently did his mother relax her surveillance of him. Something was occupying his mother's attention and he hadn't got the time to discuss it with her.
“Just cause,” said Leora spitefully. She didn’t like it that Elijah seemed to baby her around ever since she started living with him. Perhaps it is time to get her own place?
“I swear you’re like an adult child,” said Elijah.
“Takes one to know one,” retorted Leora.
Elijah just rolled his eyes. No point to responding. He can see now why her sire just left her.
Then they were silent as the elevator continued on and then pinged to a stop. The elevator’s door opened.
“Home sweet home,” said Elijah as they made their way to a door not far from the elevator. He took out his keys and unlocked the door. “Hey, you didn’t close the window.” He noticed across the living room windows were opened. How many times do I have to tell her not to leave the windows open when she is the last one in the apartment? he thought.
“Uh, are you sure it was you instead? I didn’t leave the window open before I went on my date,” said Leora indignantly.
Elijah gritted his teeth and hid his scowl as he walked to the opened window and slammed it closed. “Next time don’t do that. I will not be responsible if suddenly you get hit!” Green sparks crackled around his knuckles as he struggled to contain his irritation that was morphing into anger.
Leora rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I heard you,” she said before turning to her room. She didn't look back as she entered her room and slammed the door behind her.
“What nerves,” she said to herself. She looked to the laptop that was charging on her bed. It was bulky and much thicker than the one that Elijah possessed. She sighed and let her irritation with Elijah fade away. She had much more important things to do than to dwell on how Elijah treated her.
She went over to her bed and picked up the laptop. She sat back down and powered it up. A few moments later she typed in her password. A program ‘Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing’ opened up before she closed it down. She hadn’t gotten the heart to uninstall the program since it was the one that taught her how to type.
“And so the search continues,” she said to herself. She opened up a browser and typed into the search bar.
On the other side of the apartment, Elijah was already in his room. He laid on his bed, going through his emails on his phone. He stopped at one unread email. It had no subject line but it was from Marcus.
It had been months since he had last seen Marcus. After the fiasco at the museum, he thought everything would go back to normal but it seemed Marcus’ father was like his mother, too overprotective. Marcus’ father was convinced that he was a bad influence on his son and so had the red haired man transferred to a junior college.
They hadn’t spoken much either. There seemed to be a weird awkwardness that Elijah couldn’t figure out if it was from himself or Marcus' end. Maybe it was because he hadn’t really told the red haired man what Leora is? He had kept her a secret to everyone and told people she was a friend who was living with him.
He opened the subject less email and read:
“Sorry, couldn’t find anything on a vampire that walks in daylight in the Archives. Anyways, I am going to go to LA tomorrow and will be gone for a couple of weeks. Mom wants to see me.
Best of luck on this term paper.
-Marcus.“
Elijah closed his phone and tossed it somewhere on his bed. He had lied to Marcus that he was doing a paper for midterm about vampires for his mythology and folklore class and wanted to know if there existed a vampire that walks in daylight. He wasn’t surprised that Marcus couldn’t find in the Archives about if such a vampire existed. Technically it wasn’t possible.
They were cursed and, according to the Witches Archives, it was from a powerful witch eons ago. Was that true? Maybe. According to the most popular explanation it was because of God. Maybe because of the fabled Dracula? Who knows what is the truth, but vampires burning in the sunlight was fact.
When he was fourteen he had seen his mother kill a vampire that dared to try to use one of their people in a scheme. His mother had placed the vampire on top of the Coit Tower at dawn and watched the vampire slowly burn up to death, her screams rising as the sun rose.
He turned over onto his side.
A vampire that walks in daylight. That very fact would open all sorts of trouble. He figured everyone from the Witch Council down to the too holy self-proclaimed Hunter Order would be coming for her. Even Hammer. Especially Hammer.
And he couldn’t have that.
He looked over to a corkboard on this desk. With a blink of his eyes, newspaper clippings appeared on it. Some from the New York Times and others from the Wichita Magi News. In all of them, something terrible had happened from accidents to terrorist attacks. He knew it was all because of one man and that was Hammer.
Hammer the warlock who grew so powerful and so hungry for more. He tried to take over the United States. He failed, but the Witch Council couldn’t kill him. So they exiled him instead.
“Hey, uh, sorry about the window,” said Leora from the otherside of Elijah’s door. “We cool, bro?”
Elijah closed his eyes and stifled an internal groan. Ever since he gave her his old laptop, the vampire has been on it whenever she got a chance. Every so often he’d hear snippets of Jersey Shore.
“Yes,” said Elijah, his eyes still closed.
“Okay, so like can I borrow the car tomorrow? My boss just texted me that he needed me to take the late shift and close up shop,” said Leora.
“Ugh, okay. Just effin’ don’t break it or get pulled over by the cops,” said Elijah. He was tired and didn’t want to get into an argument with the vampire. However, a small voice in his mind wondered if that was wise? The vampire did manage to get a license but he suspected she cheated using her hypnosis.
“Awesome! Thanks,” said Leora.
“I am going to sleep so don’t bother me anymore,” said Elijah and he went to sleep.
***
The next day Leora was reporting to her manager at the Golden Arches. She was in the office and standing in front of her manager’s desk. She saw the, ‘Out of Order,’ sign hanging by a set of keys. It was the same sign that was falsely hanging on the door of the bathroom where a homeless person was in there sleeping yesterday.
“Thanks for taking the all day shift and night. You have no idea how helpful that was,” said Leora’s manager.
“No problem, Mr. Jones,” said Leora. She was dressed in the Golden Arches blue and white uniform. “Happy to help.”
“Well, getting paid is more happy, yes?” grinned Jones. He got up from his desk and went over to take a set of keys hanging near him. “I know you know the protocols for closing up. So I won’t explain. Sorry, but I believe you are the only one that will be here during close up. Grant had told me his grandmother had died, so yeah.”
“That sucks,” said Leora.
“Uh, yeah. I suppose if that were true,” said Jones as he handed the keys to Leora. “Don’t lose these or corporate will have my ass.”
“I won’t,” said Leora.
Jones patted Leora on the shoulder. “Good. Now, before you go, how was your last night?” He grinned widely.
Leora frowned. “Eh, it went okay. She was a nice gal but I don’t think I’d see her again. Ever.”
“She that bad,” said Jones before laughing and shaking his head.
“You have no idea,” said Leora. She turned around and exited her manager’s office.
The day went as usual at the Golden Arches. Leora did her best and was quite pleased with her customer service. She figured perhaps Jones would promote her to assistant manager and that would be great. If he did, she’d have enough money to get her own car and maybe she can even rent an apartment. No longer would she need Elijah. As much as she appreciated his help so far, she didn’t want to depend on him anymore than what was necessary.
When she closed up the Golden Arches her hunger pangs started up. Soon she’d need to feed to quell them. Elijah had told her it wasn’t wise to hunt in San Francisco and risk getting the wrath of House Eagle as an outsider vampire. So instead, he suggested she get some from blood banks.
Leora got into her car and texted her supplier that she would be heading over to the blood bank for another supply of blood bags. After getting a reply, she frowned. Her supplier was bumping up the cost by an extra ten dollars because there had been donor issues or something at the blood bank.
She started the ignition. It was then she noticed an empty Golden Arches wrapper at the floor of the passenger seat next to her. “And he said he was not my mother, bullshit,” she said remembering a time when Elijah freaked out over an empty blood bag on the coffee table. She bent over and picked it up. Then she stuck it in her pocket so she would dispose of it later when she got home.
Leora drove off and headed to the blood bank.
But she didn’t get there.
She turned a corner where there were no street lights and slammed the breaks upon seeing five individuals in the street. Four of them had their hoodies on and the bottom half of their faces covered. The middle one was a woman with pale skin and green eyes. Her delicate face was framed with red hair that wavered down past her shoulders. She wore dark jeans and a fitting black leather jacket.
One of the hooded figures threw a disk sized object that clamped onto the hood of the car. The car engine and the lights went off as if robbed of all energy. Leora tried to turn on the ignition but there only came a short lived guttering sound from the engine.
“Get out, outsider,” bellowed the woman.
The woman’s voice filled the air in an ethereal echo.
“Oh shit,” said Leora. She reached for her phone and texted Elijah but the text wouldn’t go through.
“Don’t let me repeat myself, outsider,” said the woman.
Leora looked up and saw fangs poking out of the woman’s red lips. “Shit,” she said. What was she to do? Fight them? Comply? What would Elijah want her to do?
“Get her out,” commanded the woman.
Like a dark blur, one of them was at the driver’s door and ripped the door off.
“What the fuck? Hey, I have to pay for that--” Leora felt a hand grab her from the back of her neck. She lifted her arms but they were quickly restrained. Next thing she knew someone pulled her out through the passenger side where that door was now missing.
“I had her,” said the one holding the driver’s door.
“Too slow,” said someone behind Leora in a hissing voice.
Leora couldn’t turn around as the hand had a tight grip on the back of her neck. She felt a shove for her to move forward toward the vampiress at someone who seems to be their leader.
“Walk, outsider,” hissed the voice behind her. “Maybe we’ll spare your legs.”
There came a chuckling from all of them except from the leader who was staring down Leora with narrowed green eyes.
Perhaps complying for now would be best, thought Leora. She walked toward their leader. When they stopped she felt the back of her knees kicked and she was now on her knees.
The leader addressed Leora. “Now, outsider, tell me what House you are from the EC? Aric could not pinpoint your scent.”
“Aric? Oh wait, are you Elizabeth?” said Leora, remembering the vampire she punched the other night.
“Are you for real?” chuckled Elizabeth humorlessly. “Or are you playing dumb so you won’t tell me who is the Master who sent you here.”
“I don’t have a Master nor do I belong to a House,” said Leora. “I was just minding my own business. Sorry. I punched Aric.” She wasn’t sorry.
Elizabeth pursed her lips and motioned to the one that had ripped the driver’s door off from the car, “I hate liars. Fedrick, if you please.”
Fedrick took out a water bottle and walked to Leora. He opened it carefully and then moved the bottle under Leora’s nostrils. Leora flinched away, feeling the inner canals of her nose burn.
“Now tell me the truth and I won’t have holy water run down your throat,” said Elizabeth sweetly.
“I already told you,” said Leora.
“Fine,” said Elizabeth. She looked up at the person holding Leora. “Janet, open her mouth.”
“With pleasure,” hissed Janet. She quickly moved her hand from the back of Leora’s neck to the chin. She easily opened Leora’s mouth. Then she inhaled deeply, taking in Leora’s scent. “Fresh meat. You’ve only walked this Earth as a vampire for what? Max a year? I pity you.”
“Now, last chance. Who sent you?” said Elizabeth, nodding to Fedrick.
Fedrick lifted the water bottle over Leora’s mouth in response.
Leora could struggle but it was pointless. Janet held her good and there was Fedrick. She was also getting weak due to her hunger pangs. So she decided to let them hurt her at this point.
“Defiant little bitch. Fine, let’s see how you scream,” said Elizabeth. “Do it,” she commanded Fedrick.
Then it landed. A black metal ball rolled to a stop next to Leora.
“Cover,” snarled Elizabeth. “Now!”
A flash of light exploded out of the metal ball. Leora could only see white light but she heard the screams and smell the burning of flesh. Then she felt something hard and metallic slammed into her right side of her face. Darkness consumed her, ironically.
***
The UV light bomb had receded when Josephine lifted up Leora onto her shoulder. She started to run, taking advantage of the chaos she created. She shot at the forehead of a vampire wriggling in pain before jumping over it and making her way to her motorcycle.
“Really?”’ drawled a voice in her earpiece. “You didn’t have to kill that vampire.”
“Sorry, Telera, I couldn’t help it. Old habit to kill vampires,” Josephine replied. She placed Leora on the motorcycle’s seat and let the vampire slump over the fuel tank.
“Don’t drop her,” said Telera from the earpiece.
“Please,” said Josephine. She mounted on the motorcycle’s seat. “She’s light as a feather!”
“Did the bomb hurt her in any way?” said Telera.
Josephine reached and touched Leora cheek. She rubbed her thumb. “Zilch. Like I said sunblock is a myth,” said Josephine before driving off.
“New vampire type?” said Telera.
“No way,” chuckled Josephine. “There’s got to be a trick she has. Maybe magic but I didn’t sense any.”
“Hmm, the weres would throw a fit if vampires started roaming the daylight too. We may have another war on our hands,” said Telera.
“Like I care about that,” said Josephine. “Let the Order deal with that.”
Josephine drove out of the city and headed towards the Golden Gate. She was careful to not stay in the light for so long on the streets and there were a few times she had to go off ramp from the freeway to hide from cops. Afterall, she did have a body hanging over her motorcycle.
She slowed down when she reached her destination. A large bridge that, in her opinion, was more orange than golden was sparkling in that city lights kind of glow in the background. She passed a large carved sign that said, “Golden Gate Park,” and went onto a hidden pathway she had created a year ago.
“Room prepped?” she said out loud.
“Yup, just don’t over do it? She seemed nice,” said Telera. “And she saved you.”
“No, she helped me. I would’ve taken care of that vampire anyways,” clarified Josephine when she went down a concrete tunnel.
“Uh huh,” said Telera. “You’re not invincible, Josephine.”
Josephine didn’t answer. She just smiled. At least she was as close to invincible as God permitted.
Soon she reached a metal door where she parked the motorcycle. The metal door automatically opened and she entered it with Leora hanging over her shoulder.
***
Her fellow vampires were in a disarray of chaos. As the white smoke dissipated like drifting clouds she finally saw them. Her mouth held tight as she watched some of them crying out, clawing at their faces while others were on the ground in spasm. Was this the state they were in?
Zea pulled down her binoculars from the window that she stood behind. The city lights danced across her skin in such a way that her skin and hair became one with the color momentarily. “You told them to bring masks, yes?”
“No. I didn’t expect another hunter,” came a voice from Zea’s phone that was strapped to the side of her hips . “I have the med team in route.”
“Those hunters never come alone,” sighed Zea. Then she muttered under her breath a series of curses. Then she pulled up her binoculars and searched for her target. “Are you alright at least?”
“I am not there. Just an illusion.” Then came a big sigh. “Look at them. They are just...just not ready.”
“Are you losing hope?” asked Zea.
“Please,” snorted the voice. “Who do you think I am? We just need to train them better--”
“Lady Elizabeth, there’s an urgent call. It’s from Agent Robert.” came another voice from the phone.
“Go take the call. I’ll take care of this,” said Zea.
“Be safe and try not to harm the daywalking vampire too much. Fuck up that hunter though.”
“I have a drone tracking them.” Zea finally spotted her target who was on the ground covering his face as he rocked back and forth.
“Why am I not surprised.” The call ended.
Zea turned around and tossed her binocular to an opened duffle back. How many would they lose today? She didn’t let herself rummage on that thought.
She turned to her weapons that laid across a coffee table that had a missing leg but was held up by a stack of dusty books and magazines. She read the spine of one. Her eyes softened for a second before she gathered her weapons and the duffle bag.
Then she was gone and a small breeze entered the room through the window despite it not being a windy night.
***
When Leora came too she groaned. Her head throbbed but she couldn’t move her arms to cradle her head. Then her stomach started to growl and she could feel her fangs grow a little longer.
She looked around and realized she was chained to a chair with a spotlight on her. She checked her throat and it felt fine. Elizabeth didn’t pour holy water down her throat.
“You’re awake,” said an electronically deepened voice from an intercom somewhere.
Leora scrunched up her eyebrows. “Why did you change your voice? You didn’t like how you sound?”
“We saved you, Leora, from House Eagle,” said the voice. “We’d like to ask you some questions.”
“The fuck? So I get kidnapped twice,” said Leora. She leaned back into her seat and slumped. “Tell me who you are and what the hell you want with me.”
“We’re friends and we just want answers. Provided you give the truth,” said the voice.
“How can you tell? I told Elizabeth the truth and she wanted to pour holy water down my throat,” said Leora. She tested the chains and felt a slight sting if she yanked it too hard. “Blessed?”
“Correct. We will be the judge of what is truth or not,” said the voice. “Hungry?”
Leora growled. “Oh, so you going to torture me that way.”
She heard the sound of a door opening and closing. Then heard a whizzing sound. Leora turned to the sound and watched a truck toy rolled up to her feet. Attached to the top of the truck toy was a bowl of blood.
Leora started to salivate but she maintained her composure.
“A peace offering,” said the voice. “Before our questions.”
“Are you expecting me to suck in the blood through the air?” snorted Leora.
There was a click and the top of the toy car popped up and extended up. The bowl was now at the same level as Leora’s mouth.
“That is pretty cool,” said Leora. She moved her head forward and using her tongue and lower jaw, was able to clasped the lid of the bowl. She tilted the bowl toward her. In a few gulps she finished the bowl.
“Now, how are you able to stand the light?” said the voice.
Leora licked her lips clean of any remaining blood. It was enough to satisfy her hunger and she wouldn’t need another drink for a few more days. She turned attention to her second kidnapper. She had no idea who they might be as the room she was in had some sort of odor masking their scent.
“Perhaps, we should clarify. Why doesn’t sunlight burn you?”
“Because I wasn’t cursed,” shrugged Leora.
There was a pause.
“How were you not cursed?” said the voice. “God made sure any who turned away from them would not feel their touch.”
“Oh, that was a dead give away. I think I know who you guys are. You guys hunters?” said Leora. “Explains the blessed chains.”
There was another pause.
“Answer ours first then we’ll answer yours,” said the voice.
“The answer is the same. I wasn’t curse. It’s really that simple,” said Leora. “Now are you guys hunters? I don’t know why I am even asking that. I am like one hundred percent you all are.”
There was a quick moment of silence. Then came a growl from the intercom.
“Hey, uh, not hunters?” Leora didn’t think hunters growled like that. It was very animal like. Like a dog.
There was some rumblings like chairs or tables being thrown. Then came a barrage of gunshots coming through the intercom. Finally, an unfiltered voice came out of the intercom but sounded distant.
“Goddamn! I’ll take care of them. You go get Leora before they do!”
Leora wanted to hear that voice again. It was vaguely familiar. Whomever they were, it sounded like they were having trouble. She tested her chains again and she still could not break it.
“Of all my luck,” she snorted. This time she slumped back more than usual to the point her chair tipped back over. “Fuck!”
Bang!
Leora fell back so hard that it broke the chair. Apparently the chair she was on was wooden. She stifled a moan and closed her eyes tight. Was fate laughing at her again?
After a short struggle and lots of wiggling, she was able to stand up. She was also able to have her chained arms in front of her. “Now where’s the door?”
She looked down at the toy truck and turned to where she first heard it. Her eyes had a slight glow and she could see a door through the darkness where the light did not touch. “And there it is.”
Leora went up to the door and with one quick kick the metal door popped out. A flood of light spilled into the room. She took a step out and peered down a hallway. On one end she met eye to eye one of Elizabeth’s henchmen she recognized.
“Hey, Aric,” she called out.
A large claw snatched Aric before he could react.
“Ah, I go that way then,” said Leora and went down the hallway opposite to where Aric was.
She heard, presumingly Aric’s, screaming as she turned a corner. She stopped at a t-section when a body flew across the hallway. Sizzling green energy dissipated in the air.
“Get out of my way!” shouted Elijah.
“Yo, it’s me,” said Leora.
Elijah came rushing out of the hallway from where that body flew from. He stopped in front of Leora. He looked at her up and down.
“Don’t give me that look. The chains are blessed, ok,” said Leora. “Now get them off of me!”
Elijah, shaking his head, flicked a bolt of energy that broke the chains.
“C’mon, this way before the vampires catch up,” he said. He motioned with his athame for Leora to follow.
“How did you find me?” said Leora, rubbing her arms. She was sure she had left her phone in his car.
“I got your text. Found the car but you were gone. Then I got attacked by some vamps and figured they captured you. So I made one confess where you were,” said Elijah.
Leora raised an eyebrow and wondered what he meant by ‘made one confess.’
“Talk later. We have vampires, a werewolf and a hunter after us,” said Elijah.
“I knew it!” said Leora, feeling validated that the second kidnapper was a hunter. Hmm, but I could’ve sworn there was more than one and a werewolf? she thought.
They left the hallway they were in and were in another one
“Almost out of here. Turn,” barked Elijah after a few doors down in the new hallway.
After rounding a corner, they then went through a door and up a flight of stairs. Finally, they reached a door marked ‘Exit’. Once through that they were out in the open of the Golden Gate Park.
“Car is not far. Hurry so I cast a spell to erase our scent while they’re still fighting each other,” said Elijah.
“You’re too slow,” said Leora and picked the young man up with ease. “Point the way.”
“Uh, about a quarter mile that way,” said Elijah, pointing westward. It felt awkward that the shorter woman was cradling him like a baby.
Leora dashed so fast that Elijah could only grab hold of her. In perhaps about fifteen seconds they were at the car. The vampire winced as she noted the driver’s and the passenger’s door were missing.
“Are you seriously that fast? Why do you even need a car?” said Elijah as he pushed himself down and away from the shorter woman.
“I may be a vampire but I can’t run all day,” said Leora.
“Whatever, let’s get in the car and get to my place. Fuck this,” said Elijah. He pulled out his key and started the car. He limped a little.
Leora, feeling a bit guilty that perhaps this is all her fault, entered the car in the passenger side.
They sped off and while driving, Elijah chanted a spell. Leora was wise enough to stay quiet throughout the trip. When they reached home, they silently made their way to the apartment. Once inside, Elijah plopped down on a nearby sofa and Leora did the same on a loveseat across from the young man.
“So, uh, you think your insurance is going to cover the doors?” asked Leora meekly.
“What the hell,” roared Elijah. “Worrying about my car is the least of your problems!”
“Hey hey, I thought you said you mind wiped that vampire,” defended Leora.
“I did. I dunno why he wasn’t wiped,” snapped Elijah. “Besides, I wouldn’t need to do it in the first place if you hadn’t blown your cover. Now House Eagle knows your presence. And that hunter! Where the hell that hunter came from? Then there was the werewolf who probably was spying on House Eagle. Holy fuck!”
Leora looked down. Deep down, she knew it was her fault. She felt bad and didn’t know what to say next.
After a moment, Elijah spoke. “You alright though?”
“Yeah, a slight throbbing on my right side of my face. Nothing I can’t deal with. You? You were kinda limping,” said Leora quitely.
“Yeah, I somewhat twisted my left ankle but it’s good now.” Elijah let out a sigh. “Tell me what happened.”
Leora started when she got off work and closed up the Golden Arches. She recalled about Elizabeth’s questioning and the second kidnapper--whom she was now sure was a hunter.
“And the rest you already know,” finished Leora.
Elijah rubbed his chin. “You never asked why the hunter knew your name?”
Leora shrugged. “I figured the hunter read my name off my tag.” She pointed to the silver plastic over her heart where her name was transcribed in capital letters.
“But you said the voice sounded familiar?”
“Yeah, I am still trying to process the voice I heard over the intercom,” said Leora. “I think it was female? Maybe male?” Some male humans can have pretty girly voices if she recalled the singing competition shows she watched every week.
“That only increases my suspicion. I think there is someone you know who is a hunter. I think it is your boss,” said Elijah.
“No way! That guy? I don’t think he can lift a box of frozen patties let alone me,” said Leora.
“Yes, you’re right. The hunter, what I could see, was taller than me,” said Elijah.
“Then no way Jones. He is shorter than me and I am shorter than you. What else?”
“Sorry, it was an all out battle. When I came, House Eagle was already battling the werewolf and the hunter. I just snuck around and tazed a few vampires along the way to get to you,” said Elijah. “I still think the hunter is someone you know because they asked about the sunlight. So I am thinking it is someone you met in the day time?”
“I meet lots of people in the daytime. I take people’s order as part of my job,” said Leora matter-of-factly. “I don’t do anything vampire like in the daytime anyways. So who knows?”
“Fuck the hunter. Let’s deal with House Eagle,” said Elijah.
“What about the werewolf? Fuck it too?” said Leora.
“The werewolf goes hand in hand with House Eagle. Like, vampires and werewolves hate each other and constantly trying to nerf one another,” said Elijah. “We witches usually stay out of their battles. Speaking of which, I think you need not go to work for a while. Maybe laying low for and, hopefully, they will forget.”
“Yeah, but I really can’t. I just got this job and don’t we need to pay rent to your mom?” pointed out Leora. She flopped onto a pillow and buried her face into it.
“Dammit, you’re right. How about don’t do night shift?” said Elijah.
“I can get Jones to agree. He’s not that strong willed,” said Leora. She would use her vampiric hypnosis if she has to. “What about the hunter?”
“Hunters don’t like to make a big scene. The U.S. government already warned them after the incident in New York in the nineties. A group of hunters was hunting in the subways and caused a cave in. Lots of people died,” said Elijah, recalling what he learned in history class during his high school.
“I totally didn’t read that in wikipedia,” said Leora.
“When it comes to us--witches, werewolves, vampires and what not--stick to my books. It’s far more accurate than what’s on the internet. I know we witches put the wrong information online just to make sure noisy people stay out of our business. I figured the others do the same too,” said Elijah.
“Fine, I’ll stick to a day schedule and come here before the sun goes down,” said Leora.
“Alright, now I just have to figure out how to tell my mom about my car,” said Elijah.
Leora groaned into the pillow. Whatever it is, she was sure she will have to pay for it.
Chapter 6 - The Request