Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 12:31:49 -0600
From: Michael Yost <myost@charter.net>
Subject: Real World Chapter 39

"Trying to isolate Pete again Michael?    Even from night walkers?  Michael
don't interfere. I let Pete go. You have to too. Pete needs this grand tour of
the world with other vampires. It will toughen him up.  It wouldn't  hurt  Josh
to be toughened  up too. Trust Pete to take care of himself.  All right? I do,"
Christov said.

"I trust Pete," Michael said bleakly, not daring to tell Christov the truth
about the scheme he put into  motion.  A scheme he was more and more starting to
regret.

"Wait what's  the problem here?" Christov said suspicious of the worry and
sadness on Michael's face.

"Nothing. I hate to see Pete leave.  That's all," Michael said, his face now a
cold blank.

"Hold it.  Children leave the nest and  get hurt all the time. It's part of
their emotional maturation process," Christov said, getting to his feet, "Why
are you getting all weird,  strike that, even weirder about Pete?  I suspect
this coven  murders and tortures  mortals.  They'll grow out of it. I mean Pete
can always leave if he can't stomach their killing habits.  Is that what your
worried about ? Pete's delicate  sensibilities?"

"Yes," Michael lied.


Michael he has to face the fact it can be a cruel world out there. We all lived
it. So he'll see some human bashing. He'll just have to digest it and deal with
it. It's not like he's over his head   joining this coven.  Is he or is he not
over his head? And tell me why, and how right now!"

"No, he isn't over his head," Michael said calmly, despairing inside "He'll have
Josh with him won't he?"

"Michael,  I know you don't mean to be malicious.  This coven Pete's joining
seems to be kosher to me. And Ovid seems to really care about Pete. Get over
Pete will you?" Christov said smiling patiently, "And stop trying to hit all my
panic buttons. I don't get you. Now, I bet your all  jealous of Ovid.  Or is the
idea of Josh and Pete going to France  have you all put out? Michael, Josh and
Pete have been together for months. You should be used to is by now."

"You better find Henri and thank him," Michael said morosely, "He did you a huge
service. Remember that kind of service is what the poets call not just love, but
true love."

"Stop saying that," Christov cried, swallowing nervously, "Henri is just an
amigo."

"That's what they all say, "Michael said with mirthless humor.

On the other part of town, slinking into an abandoned building, a pretty blond
girl draped on his elegant arm, Henri smelled fresh living blood.

"Mademoiselle, I'm afraid I have to hurry our date along," Henri said calmly.

"Hurry what along?" the blond girl Henri picked up from a bar slurred, hanging
on to him for dear life. Her balance was in a drunken whirl.

Henri's  lips flew to her raised up throat.  He hesitated.  The scent of living
blood already starting to decay polluting the air,  making him push her away
from his thirst.

"This evening has  to end now between us," Henri said courteously,  troubled by
death being so fragrant in the air,  deciding not to feed off of her,   "Let me
drive you home."

All her mortal senses could smell was the delectable scent of his after shave.
Cooing  sloppily, she  cuddled against him,  "I don't want this evening ever to
end.  I could stare into your sapphire eyes forever."

"Now if there ever was a line which opens a vault of all sorts of possibilities
a never ending evening would be such a line.  Non cheri, My stomach is off. I
prefer to drive you home."

"What has your stomach have to do with all of this?" she purred, bringing her
lips to his.  She was so very blond with such feminine animal instincts to mate
with something so yummy and  male.

"Everything," Henri said calmly. Struggling with his concern over the faint,
human  mewing voice coming from the building,

Do this, he thought quickly to himself  Lifting her practically off the ground.
Her little feet dangling. He held her so  high  the tip of her toes barely touch
the concrete.  Henri bit into her throat,  leaving enough blood in her to live
and sleep the night away.

Taking her unconscious body to her car,  he placed her arms and head over the
steering wheel.

Entering the burned out building, he went inde a room with soot laden walls
covered with blustered gray paint.

"Detective Mayers?" Henri gasped. Detective Mayers hung from a cross beam. His
stomach had been carefully skinned. Blue muscles, garish graying intestines were
hanging between his thighs.

Before Henri could leave, a hand clamped down on his mouth.

"Normally, I do not attack others of our kind," a courteous voice whispered in
his ear, "I  find myself forced in this case  to make an exception.  We've been
spying on you and your coven.    Why are you so intrigued  with our kills?"


"Henri?" Christov whispered cautiously entering the room, "What the hell?"

A vampire dressed in mod gothic black with his back turned towards him was
holding Henri captive.  His knife pressing into Henri's throat.

"Stop!" Christov screamed, lunging at the vamprie.

Surprised, the vampire threw Henri into Christov.

Pulling out his sword from his walking stick, Henri slashed at the vampire's
wrist.

Shit don't fail me now, Christov thought, throwing   his gris gris full of white
brick powder at the monster.

Cursing, the vampire flew through the ceiling, sending plaster drizzling upon
Christov and Henri.

Laughing his head off,  landing on his feet miles away, the vampire threw  his
arms around his waiting companion.

"I absolutely deplore the last kill we made," Trevor said crossly to Richard,
wiggling out of his friend's embrace.

"Did you?" Richard said blandly, looking angelic, patting his black trench coat,
creating a white plaster cloud around himself.

"It had nothing to do with our religious ceremonies. I mean for one  the cop
wasn't  a May Queen."

"He was a queen of sorts," Richard said reasonably.

"And two we murdered our quota of young women to feed into the womb of the earth
so vegetation would continue to grow to feed all of food kind" Trevor groused,
walking along side Richard, "There was no  justification for killing that snooty
cop."

"I beg to differ," Richard said, "Trevor, he was shooting at one of us. A fellow
vampire.  Might I remind you of that small detail.  Further more that whore he
made me smile.  Imagine  tossing a gris-gris charm at me as if it would cause me
to turn into a puddle of water.  It was he you know who left an offering of
coins at the victim he and I suppose his lover   stole from us.  I find him to
be all together quaintly eccentric."

"Quaintly eccentric," Trevor growled, "The gris gris worked didn't it?"

"I suppose you can look at it that way," Richard said laughing, "I could not
resist my little joke. The look on the whore's face when I cursed and flew
through the ceiling was priceless."

"So you like this guy?" Trevor asked.

"Like him?" Richard said puzzled.  He regarded his boyhood friend joined
eternally to him by death and resurrection. Their friendship started the day
they were apprenticed as mortal boys to Mael and endured after Mael  set them on
the Devil's Road.

"Do you like him?" Trevor asked raking his hand throughout his thick dyed,
hanging freely blonde hair. Trevor's green eyes taunted Richard who was only
confused by the nature of the question.

"You must have liked him to kill a victim as risky as a cop!" Trevor yelled
exasperated.

"He's a whore, " Richard said, playing with his dyed black red hair.

"Why did you take his victim's body from the alley!"

"Impulse," Richard said, not liking what Trevor was implying.  "I was simply
helping a fellow vampire."   His handsome face as cold as granite on a winter's
night, "If I see him again I will treat him like a whore.   I had my fun with
them now enough of them.  Let's  go to Bosnaia Next month  is  the month for
making May Kings.  Giving men the honor of having  their organs and fluids fed
to the mother earth who thanks to us is without end."

"Bosnai it is then," Trevor said, letting Richard scoop him up into his arms.
The two flew for eastern stars.

Back in the warehouse, Henri asked "Are you all right Christov?"

"I can't believe Meryes is dead," Christov said a grim smile on his face, "Crazy
old coot."

"Crazy or not we have to leave.  That ancient may come back. It all happened so
fast I didn't even get a glimpse of his face."

"Me neither, " Christov said, "So, you didn't kill Mayers?"

"No.  What  a messy kill this is," Henri sighed, shaking his head," And of one
of Chicago's finest."

"New York's  finest," Christov corrected hum,  prying the nails from the dead
man's hands.

"What are you doing?" Henri said, following him out.

"This," Christov said, putting the body in front  of the car where the
unconscious blonde girl lay.

Getting into her car, shoving the girl into the passenger's side,   Christov
backed the car up, then he floored it, running over Mayer's   body.

Christov heard a satisfying crunch of bones,  he backed up over the body again,
and again.

Getting out of the car, Mayer's body a pulpy mess under the wheels of the
blonde's car, Christov replaced the blonde at the wheel,   saying, "She's going
to have some hangover tomorrow."

"Let's clean up," Henri said.  Heading for the abandoned building Henri spread
newspapers where the filthy floor was soaked with blood.   Setting the
newspapers on fire,  he then destroyed the cross into kindling.   He and
Christov sat next to the flames.

"This concludes a tie to your mortal past, "Henri said, smiling a small smile.

"Yes, it does," Christov said, putting his hands to the fire to warm them.

"We can't stay in here long mon ami," Henri said  taking Christov's wrist.

My kill, I wonder what happened to it," Christov said, nervously

"What do you mean?" Henri questioned.

"My kill, the ancient he took it when he took Mayers," Christov said.

"Why in the world would he do that?" Henri said.

"I don't know. I," Christov said, embarrassed, fearing if he told Henri about
Meyers shooting at him, he'd end up telling Henri everything about his past with
Meyers.  "Meyers caught the vampire stalking a young girl.  Mayer's  also came
across the body I left in the alley. I have no idea why the vampire took my
victim's body.  Maybe he thought he better move it. Could you look for it?   See
what ancient did with it? I may have forgotten  to heal the puncture wounds on
it."

 Going into the back rooms, returning to the fire, Henri said, "I found him.
The puncture wounds have been healed.  For all practical purposes it looks like
he died of cardiac arrest.  Well prop him up by the fire.  That way it will look
like he's been living here, or at least came in here for shelter for the night.
Human corpses have such sad stories to tell."


Sitting back at the fire, Henri studied his partner.  Christov's  long richly
brown hair framed a face which was tender,  and tired.  His lips drawn out in a
thoughtful frown.  He looked so seductively needy.   Drawing Christov closer to
him, Henri's lips  parted, he bared his fangs, "Christov, you very well may have
saved my life tonight," he whispered.

"Change!   Got any spare change?" Christov said miserably.

"Non," Henri said, pulling himself  backwards, saturated with disappointed

Christov looked away from his friend's beautiful, flamed tinted face. Hugging
himself protectively.

Mayers' screams seemed to have absorbed into the decaying walls.  Christov swore
he could hear the echo of Mayers' screams in the room

In his mind laughter like a creeping spider slithered underneath the dying man's
last gasps

"You know what to do don't you boy?"  Marie Glapion appeared inside his head,
"How does it feel to be a little less connected to your human past,  and a lot
more dead?" she laughed.

Going  over to is fallen gris gris bag, Christov emptied the white brick dust
out of it.  He started to fill it with the ashes of the bloody newspaper and the
cross.

"Christov let the past burn to ashes and leave the ashes behind you," Henri
said.

Got a good taste of Mayers'  power over you now don't you?' Marie Glapion
cracked, Can't hurt you any more can he?

Shivering Christov poured the ashes back,  "Keeping Mayers around is not the
kind of magic I want. You're right Henri I don't need this link to my past."

Christov reconsidered his words, scooping up the ashes,  "He was just man. Dead
by unusual means. Mayers probably would be useful in a charm," Christov said. "I
should remember the past.  It protects me from, from, it protects me to
remember."  It protects me from you, Christov thought.

I highly doubt if if will protect you, " Henri said sadly,  taking Christov's
hand pulling him out of the room of morbid thoughts into the raven winged soft
twilight.