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"No"
He reaches over and pulls off the et in the bathroo his face "Who the hell are you?"
"A girl with a bad attitude," I say
The woman pokes her pistol at my temple "Get out You have two uys in the other limousine are all out, their weapons hidden but handy They foras station I hope none of them accompanies me into the rest rooive the watching gang a tium They stare at my body They, too, wonder what all the fuss is about The wooes into the bathroom first I follow, Slim on my tail No one else comes in The door closes behind us
I strike immediately I have it all planned
In a move too fast for a mortal eye to follohirl and knock Slitheth; I want to stun hiing up her gun I kick it fro out with both ht She opens her rab her face with both rip is ferocious; there is blood even before I kill her, around her eyes My nails destroy her vision permanently
There is lots more blood when I smash the back of her head on the tiled wall The plaster cracks under the blow sending up a h with streaks of red Likewise her skull cracks, in s inthe front of my leather jacket She is dead; I let her drop
The door is closed but not locked Quickly I press it tight and lock it At rab hiainst the wall beside the stain of the dead woo around his throat Perhaps five seconds have elapsed since we entered the bathroom Slim winces and opens his eyes They focus quickly when they see me
"Slim," I say softly "Look around you Look at your dead partner Her brains are leaking out of her head She&039;s a mess--it&039;s terrible I&039; person You can feel how strong I am, can&039;t you? That&039;s why your boss wanted you to be so careful with et aith it Please don&039;t even consider it Now, let me tell you what I want Reach in your pocket and pull out the key to these cuffs Unlock thes, then o If you don&039;t, your brains will be all over the floor like your partner&039;s
Think about it for aYou can see what an impatient person I am"
He stammers "I don&039;t have the keys"
I sh your pockets and find the perfectly still while I do so I&039; to have to kill you"
He&039;s scared He can hardly talk He accidentally steps in theout of the woive you the keys"
"That&039;s good Good for you" I release htly "Undo the locks Remember, if you shout out, you die"
His hands shake badly All his training has not prepared hi to what I have done to the woman&039;s head A cruets reat Oncesheep The slaughter will be a pleasure I toss the cuffs in the wastebasket Just then soers deep into the sides of Slio just enough to allow hi OK in there?" a man asks They have heard noise
"Yeah," I whisper
"Yeah," Slim says
The man outside tries the doorknob Of course it is locked "What&039;s happening?" theis cool," I whisper
"Everything is cool," Sliuy outside doesn&039;t believe Sliuy outside tries the door again
"Open the door," he deo out that way," I ask Slim, "will they shoot us both?"
He croaks "Yes"
I study the bathrooainst which I hold Slim is completely tiled; it appears to be the thickest wall in the rest room But the wall behind the lone toilet looks fliht attendant&039;s office space Keeping Slim pinned with my left hand, I reach down and pick up the dead woh that wall there," I say "I will kick it in, then illwith me If you do, I will rip out your throat Now tell ? A road?"
"Trees"
"Trees like in the forest?"
"Yes"
"Excellent" I drag him into the stall "Prepare yourself for a fun ride"
Still holding on to Slim, I leap into the air several
feet and plant three swift kicks on the wall above the toilet It splinters and I break through what is left of it with a slash of ht attendant&039;s office Before he can turn to identify us, I strike hioes down, probably still alive I kick open the door to the outside The fresh air is sweet after the staleness of the rest roo broken down There are shocked gasps when they see what I have done to poor Miss Ger Slim, I come around the two parked limos fro at the door, stillout of the first limo I raise the automatic weapon, an Uzi, and let loose a spray of bullets Screao down Others reach for their guns I eround I don&039;t need it, I am a vampire I need onlyon to Sli lot and enter the trees A trail of bullets chases us One of theht cheek The wound burns, but I don&039;t mind The woods are mainly pine, some spruce A hill rises above us, a quarter of a mile to the top I pull Slim to the pinnacle, and then back down the other side A streah it The old belief is not true; running water does not bind my steps
By now I have badly wrenched Sli the forest, six of theas station,I literally pick Sli faster than a deer in her prime, even with the bullet in me Then I throw Slim down behind a cluster of bushes I straddle his chest He looks up at me with eyes ith fear I must be little more than a shadow in his vision Yet I can see hiers into the torn tissue I pull out the bullet and toss it aside The wound begins to heal immediately
"Noe can talk," I say
"W-who?" he stutters I lean over, ic question," I say "Who sent you after er holding hi How is it possible?"
"I ahs "I don&039;t understand"
"I am five thousand years old I was born before recorded history began I am the last of my kindI believe I areat strength You were carefully prepared That person must know that I am a vampire I want that person" I breathe on his face and know he feels the chill of the Grim Reaper "Tell me who he is, where I can find him"
He is in shock "Is this possible?"
"You have seen a deive you another one?"
He trembles "If I tell you, will you letheavily "We work out of Switzerland I have only met my boss a few times His name is Graham--Rick Graham He is very wealthy I do odd jobs for hi for someone who fit your description"
"How did he describe s as well He said you would be rich, private, have no family He said there would be mysterious deaths connected with your name"
"Did he know my name?"
"No"
"Has he had you look for anyone else?"
"No Only soriet off me? I think you broke several of h the trees"
"You were not concerned about o to the bathroom"
"That was your mistake" My voice is cold
He is very afraid "What are you going to do to me?"
"What is Graham&039;s address? Is he in Switzerland?"
"He is never in one place He travels constantly"
"Why?"
"I don&039;t knohy Maybe he looks for you"
"But is he on the West Coast now? In Oregon?"
"I don&039;t know"
He is telling the truth "But you were taking ht, weren&039;t you?"
"I don&039;t know We were to drive you to San Francisco I was to call froive you the nuives me the nuht Yet you were here It is possible Graham is here as well?"
"It is possible We have relays"
"Do you have a business card, Slim?"
"What?"
"A card Give ht pocket"
I rip away his pocket "So it is" I stuff the wallet in my back pocket My pants are soaked with blood, some of my own, some of the wosouth on Coast Highway The hts, they are so obvious This woman is a monster If she has Slim, Slim is dead She will probably kill us if we do catch up with her The police are coet the hell out of here and chalk it up to a bad night
The as station I lovingly stroke the sides of Slim&039;s face Of course there is no possibility I will let him live
"Why do you work for Graham?" I ask
"The money"
"I see Tell me what Graham looks like?"
"He is tall, six three "
Now I am the one who trembles "What color are his eyes?"
"Blue"
"Pale blue?"
"Yes They are frightening"
My voice whispers "Like mine?"
"Yes God, please don&039;t kill me I can help you, miss I really can"
Yaksha
It is not possible, I think, after all this time The stories, why did I listen to them? Just because they said he was dead? He probably invented them But why does he come for me now? Or is that the most foolish question of all? These people had orders to shoot if I so much as burped He must want me dead
He must be afraid of what Krishna told hih," I tell Sli to do? Don&039;t do it!"
My fingers reach down to his throat,veins beneath his flesh "I told you what I ary Why shouldn&039;t I suck you dry? You are no saint You kill without conscience At least when sohts about him"
He cries "Please! I don&039;t want to die"
I lean over My hair smothers him
"Then you should never have been born," I say
I open him up I open my mouth
I take my pleasure slowly