It had been a long time since I last spoke with Ivana. She was at the General’s side when zombies invaded the city. She was also around during the vampire situation, but for the most part, she was kept well away from the city. She’s considered a member of the team, but they never let her near any danger. She’s not a fighter. She has no desire to ever become a fighter. Yet, through thick and thin, she stands by the team, and helps out where she can.
When I contacted Ivana, she asked that we meet at a nearby bar instead of the normal conference room. It turns out she recently broke up with her latest girlfriend, and thought a few beers sounded like a good idea.
She arrived at the bar twenty minutes late, but the moment she made her way inside, she was full of hugs and apologies.
I’m so sorry I’m late. Jax and Dudley were telling me a story about Skie drinking too much at a wedding rehearsal. How have you been?
“I’m excellent. How are things going for you?”
She sighed deeply, waved down a waiter, and ordered a drink before answering.
Aside from the breakup, I’m pretty good.
“Was it a bad breakup?”
She ran her fingers through her short, black hair and fixed me with her dark eyes before answering.
Are breakups ever good?
“I guess not.”
I say we skip the interview, and we drink our asses off.
I laughed at her bluntness. She seemed to have changed somewhat since the last time we spoke. It’s hard to put a finger on how exactly, but she seemed to be a stronger person.
“That would be me not doing my job if I left out the interview.”
Have you ever considered that you might be a workaholic?
“Once a reporter sinks their teeth into a story, it’s very hard to let it go.”
Well, Dudley loves to exaggerate, but he didn’t exaggerate on this one. Some major shit went down. It’s kind of hard to believe it’s actually over. For a while there, I couldn’t see the finish line. I was beginning to lose hope.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about?”
Ivana laughed at me.
Of course not, excuse me. I sometimes forget most people don’t have a clue about what happened with the team during the cleansing of the city. It’s quite a story though. I’m sort of glad Dudley turned you on to it.
“Can you walk me through it?”
I can walk you through my part.
“Just what I wanted to hear.”
Well, you may not know this, but I started hanging out with Miriam a lot. Most people probably wouldn’t want to spend time with a real witch, but I really never gave it much thought. She’s an awesome person: very strong, and confident. She’s also very motherly. I like that. I lost my Mother when the zombies came.
“You mentioned that you lost your entire family the first time I ever interviewed you.”
Did I? I don’t really remember. I rarely ever talk about the people I lost. Anyway, Miriam was there when I needed someone. She’s really the sweetest person I’ve ever met, even if she does tell me I run through women too fast.
Occasionally, Miriam gets a call from someone that needs help with things the Regulators don’t really deal with. The boys prefer fighting things they can hack up with their big knives. They aren’t exactly cut out to deal with something you can’t beat up.
“You’re talking about spirits?”
Yes. I’m talking about spirits or ghosts. Sometimes she deals with possessions and demons. I started going with her on these little side jobs. I call them “little” because they aren’t the type of thing that will get out of hand. They can play havoc on a family unfortunate enough to take up residence in a haunted house, but they have little effect on the world at large.
“What about possessions? I imagine those can be pretty awful.”
They are. It’s terrifying to see someone bend and contort while they hurl out insults in a language they shouldn’t know. I damn near pissed my pants the first time I saw a kid crawl up a wall.
Miriam, however, wasn’t bothered in the least. She’s seen it all a million times. She’s fought it all a million times. She has herbs, potions, and talismans. She uses all of these things to remove the entity.
Mind you, if it’s real bad, I tend to wait outside the room. I normally try and talk to the parents, spouse, or loved ones. I try and keep them calm while Miriam does her thing.
“What does she do if it’s real bad?”
I asked her that once, and she told me she calls the police. It turns out that the spirit world takes care of itself. She says there are entities that prevent other entities from interfering with the land of the living, sort of like ghost police.
Anyway, I’ve sort of gotten off the topic, but we were dealing with a pretty bad possession case when Jax and Dudley ran into an unknown creature in an old basement. Mr. Hardin sent her some grainy photos, and even a quick video, but despite his many phone calls, Miriam couldn’t tell him what it was.
She also didn’t have much time to spare figuring it out. I could tell she wanted to ask questions. She probably had a bunch. She’s the resident monster expert, but the demon inside the little boy we had come to help had started twisting the child’s spine so violently, she feared it might kill the body.
It took her a pretty long time to get the situation sorted out. I’m happy to say the boy lived, and he is now demon-free. The parents will probably need therapy for the rest of their lives, but fortunately, the boy doesn’t remember a thing.
After things had calmed down inside the boy’s bedroom, Miriam was immediately on the phone with Mr. Hardin. Jaxon and Dudley had gotten more images of the creature. They had even followed it down a tunnel that went under the city, in order to escape a building full of zombies.
Miriam put two and two together.
“I’m pretty sure it’s a ghoul,” Miriam announced over the phone. “It’s actually pretty rare to see one nowadays.”
“How dangerous are they?” Mr. Hardin asked over the speakerphone.
“They aren’t dangerous at all unless you attack them. They have zero interest in living human flesh. A ghoul feasts upon the dead. The more rotted the better. Just make sure the boys don’t attack. If they do, the ghoul will fight viciously until they kill it, or it kills them.”
“Shouldn’t they get rid of it?” Mr. Hardin asked. “Possibly throw some explosives down in the tunnels and clear out the rest of them.”
“No,” Miriam answered. “Ghouls are in nearly every cemetery all over the world. They’re a part of the natural order of things, and they do an excellent job of staying out of our way.”
“Why do you think so many of them have taken up residence in El Paso? A basement in the Downtown area isn’t exactly near any cemeteries.”
“El Paso has a lot of corpses around the city lately. For all we know, they may have been migrating to the area since the beginning of the zombie invasion. An invasion of an entire city would provide an excellent food source, with all the leftover pieces of the victims that didn’t reanimate.”
“I’m guessing the number of destroyed zombies lying around since we began clearing out the city only encouraged more of them to show up?” Mr. Hardin asked.
“I would think so,” Miriam answered. “There could literally be thousands of them under the streets. It’s really not a problem, though. They will clear out when the food supply dries up. Until then, just think of them as a cleaning crew.”
“Let me tell Jaxon,” Mr. Hardin said. “He’s been tracking one down.”
Miriam sat quietly for a bit after Mr. Hardin hung up and sipped her cup of coffee.
“You’re thinking about something?” I asked her.
“Yes,” Miriam answered. “I’m wondering if our resident Guardian will still attack the ghoul.”
“Why would he?” I asked.
“I couldn’t really answer that my dear,” Miriam said. “I have a difficult time trying to understand most of the things Jaxon does.”
Both of us laughed at that. Jaxon was unpredictable, at best. He probably wasn’t going to like hearing he shouldn’t attack a monster that he’d been chasing down.
“How rare are these ghouls?” I asked.
“Ghouls aren’t rare at all,” Miriam answered. “Only seeing a ghoul is rare.”
“Is that because they live underground?”
“Yes, they rarely venture out of their tunnels.”
“And they’re eating the zombie corpses?” I asked.
“Yes,” Miriam answered. “A zombie corpse is still just a corpse.”
“They won’t get sick or turn into a ghoul-zombie?”
“No,” Miriam answered. “Nothing seems to bother ghouls. Other, more intelligent, monsters even use them to dispose of corpses. I’ve heard about a few mad scientists using them as well.”
“What kind of monster uses a ghoul?” I asked.
“Vampires use ghouls relatively often, and if you think about it, it makes sense. You see: a vampire isn’t interested in a human body. They only want the blood. Once the blood is drained, and the human is dead, they are left with an unwanted body to dispose of. Now, most vampires, especially the older ones, stake out a territory. They don’t want a lot of bodies lying around and alerting people there’s a problem next door. So, after they feed, they summon a ghoul. A missing person isn’t nearly as threatening as an unwanted body, just think of all the people that suddenly up and vanish. There must be thousands of them every year. People look for them, but very soon they are forgotten by all but their loved ones. A murdered body is a different story altogether. The police often spend years tracking down killers.”
That got the wheels in my head turning big time. I had an idea. I wasn’t sure if it would work or not, but there it was.
I told Miriam what I was thinking. She in turn tossed the idea about for a bit but ultimately rejected it due to the danger factor.
Still, it was there in my mind. It was no secret the zombies in El Paso were eventually going to try and venture out of the city. Time wasn’t on our side, and all of us were extremely worried that the Regulators weren’t going to be able to stop them from leaving.
“I’ve spoken to Jaxon about that. He was convinced that leveling the city was a bad idea.”
Well, you should have seen Miriam. She was freaking out about it. She had no confidence whatsoever that destroying the city would work. Mind you, she didn’t have a better idea, nobody did, but she was definitely against trying to explode the problems away.
“Why was she so against it?”
In order to blow shit up, all the guards on the borders would have to be removed. All it takes is the survival of one zombie. One single zombie, and the problem returns again. Only when that happens, it happens outside of El Paso, and without the aid of the city’s natural barriers that were so beneficial in containing the outbreak.
“Because there would be no one there to prevent the dead from escaping the city?”
Exactly, and forget about going nuclear. I’ve read reports about living humans surviving those explosions just by hiding inside a concrete building. I doubt that type of bomb would even slow a zombie down unless it landed on top of them.
Miriam and everyone else were hoping to end the problem in the city, well away from the borders. I however didn’t see how it was going to be possible. I guess that’s why I did what I did.
“What did you do?”
Well, we’ll get to that, but before we do, it’s probably important to tell you these events took place just a week before Jaxon’s award ceremony.
“I see.”
Jaxon wasn’t too keen on going. He doesn’t much care about rewards or recognition. Unfortunately for him, the President himself was going to be the one handing out the medals. It would have been pretty rude if Jax blew it off, and Mr. Hardin also wanted the team to take a few days off. They had been in the fight for way too long. They needed a few days without something trying to eat them.
“How did Mr. Hardin convince Jaxon to go?”
He didn’t. He got Skie to do that for him. He explained to her that it was a very prestigious event, and many popular public figures would be attending. He told her the boys needed a break. It would help clear their minds, which would keep them safer when they returned to the city.
He also made plans for the event to be held in Ruidoso, which is close enough to El Paso that if anything happened, the team could get back into action very quickly. Skie talked to Jaxon immediately. It only took her ten minutes to get him to agree to come. She was excited. She loves gatherings. She loves dressing up, and meeting new people. It was totally her kind of thing. I got a bit nervous when she called me up, and asked me to go shopping with her. She was positive I wouldn’t have anything proper to wear.
“Was she correct in that assumption?”
Yes, I’m not very big on wearing dresses, or spending a lot of time on my hair.
“Did you go with her?”
I had no choice. You should see that girl when she’s determined. She’s no meek and mild person. She’s freakin’ pushy. I guess that’s how she deals with Jax.
Anyway, the girl knows fashion, and she really knows how to dress somebody up. In the end, I went with a very slinky black number that was way too girly for my tastes, but I was tired of arguing against it. My mind was on that idea I had tried to discuss with Miriam.
As soon as we were finished—mind you, it took all day and well into the evening—I drove back to our New Mexico base camp, and hit the computers. Of course, I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I also knew I couldn’t ask Miriam or Mr. Hardin for help. They would have told me I was crazy and put a stop to my plans immediately.
So, I kept looking.
As I was busy researching, the boys were still in El Paso, hard at work destroying the zombies. I was hoping to make some progress before they left the city. The awards ceremony was coming up, and I knew I wouldn’t get much done with them around.
The team was due to arrive the very next evening, and that’s when I finally gave up my own sad attempts at research. In the end, I simply asked Mr. Hard in how they found out about monster problems that weren’t on a grand scale. I never told him a word about my plan, and he was so busy he never even asked me why I wanted to know.
“We ask Momo,” Mr. Hardin answered.
“What’s a Momo?” I asked.
“He’s the guy that keeps track of that sort of thing.”
“Can I speak with him?”
“Sure, if you don’t mind heading out to New York. Momo doesn’t come into the field with us, and he rarely returns phone calls or emails.”
I hopped a plane immediately. It was a military plane, by the way. Traveling is not only free for me: it’s also hassle free. It’s just a job perk that working under Mr. Hardin, and Miriam, provides.
It was well after dark when the plane landed, and my escort drove me to a questionable area in the city. I can’t give you the location. Momo doesn’t want people showing up at his work. However, I can tell you the entrance to his facility is in an alley, right off a main street, filled with restaurants and shops.
“That’s not really a lot to go on.”
Of course! Momo doesn’t want visitors. I only told you what I told you so you would understand that his work happens right under people’s noses.
Anyway, from the back alley, I went down a flight of stairs and rang the bell on a metal door. A spotlight came over my head immediately. A black orb on a metal arm emerged from the door, and shined a red light up and down my body. There was a loud humming noise from underneath me, and I began to get nervous, but everything stopped just as suddenly as it started. The spotlight suddenly shut off, the humming noise vanished from underneath me, and the red light stopped scanning my body, then the black orb retracted back into the wall.
A cute young woman, in a white lab coat, opened the door.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m April. Don’t be alarmed by the scanners. We don’t get many visitors down here. We tend to take precautions, but Mr. Hardin made sure you were cleared for entry.”
“Do I look that unnerved?”
“Yes,” April answered. “Not to worry though. It’s a pretty normal reaction. I still get pretty nervous when I stand where you’re standing.”
“Why is that?” I asked after quickly moving into the building.
“That grate you were standing on can put out a shock big enough to fry a blue whale,” April answered.
“What the Hell do you need that for?”
April looked confused.
“What exactly did Mr. Hardin tell you about this place?”
“He didn’t say much,” I answered. “I just asked him how they found out about monster problems, and he sent me here.”
“Okay,” April said as she led me down a concrete corridor. “Well, we do track down problems. We try to nip things in the bud before they become big problems. However, we do a whole lot more than just that.”
“Such as?”
“Well,” April answered, “in addition to providing weapons and outfitting vehicles, we also try to study monsters.”
We reached the end of the dim corridor and came to an elevator. Inside the elevator, I noticed there were only two buttons, up and down. April pressed down, and we were both scanned by that annoying red light.
“Why do you need to study monsters?” I asked, after I had grown bored of the silence. “I thought Miriam was pretty much an expert on them.”
“She is,” April said. “She’s been pretty damn important to our research, but she doesn’t know everything. She doesn’t always know what attracts them, or how to kill them, and that’s what we’re really down here trying to understand. We want to know how to kill the monsters.”
The elevator door came to a stop, and slid open. I stepped out onto a balcony overlooking an incredibly large room. Inside the room were machines, and pieces of equipment, I couldn’t even begin to identify. It was like the great big lab of some mad scientist. On second thought, make that scientists, because there were about twenty or so people running around in lab coats down there.
Along the walls were large glass cages. Some of the cages were occupied. I don’t even want to tell you some of the things I saw.
“Oh, don’t tease me like that. You’ve got to give me something.”
Ivana gave a little laugh at the expression on my face and took a swig of her beer.
One cage held what seemed to be a giant spider. I couldn’t see it very clearly through all the webs, but I’m pretty sure it was a big-ass spider.
“How big was it?”
About the size of a compact car.
“What else did you see?”
I saw zombies.
“You saw zombies outside of El Paso?”
I did, and let me tell you, it scared the shit out of me.
“Are you people crazy?” I asked April. “Do you know how dangerous those things are?”
“Are you talking about the zombies?” April asked innocently.
“Duh,” I replied. “All it takes is for one to get loose, and this entire building could become infected.”
“And then what?”
“New York could be next.”
“Now, how is that going to happen when the complex has only one exit, and only humans with the proper clearance can use it? Don’t give it another thought. Our security system is incredibly advanced. You would be amazed at how well it does its job.”
“That’s why you have the electrified grate out there?” I asked. “You want to make sure nothing escapes?”
“Yes, we also want to make sure nothing gets in,” April answered. “We’ve recently had some vampires attempt to break in and pay us a visit.”
“Why vampires?”
“After the Battle of the Sun Bowl, we were able to secure some vampire corpses,” April answered. “We’ve wanted to study them for years. Now we finally can.”
“I see a lot of creatures alongside the zombies. Have you ever had a breakout before?”
“This complex opened in 1965. In the early days there were some problems, but we have some really serious protocols to protect ourselves now. Also, you’re seeing us on a busy day. With the Guardian being so active in El Paso with the zombie threat, other monsters have been able to rear up their ugly little heads, and become a problem around the rest of the country. Once the zombie threat is neutralized, we will no longer be able to acquire as many live specimens. Guardians don’t tend to leave survivors.”
“How many Guardians have you worked with?” I asked.
“We don’t actually work with them. We track down where the monsters are, and notify Mr. Hardin. Then, we study the corpses after the Guardians are finished, but to answer your question, I’ve only been doing this for eight years, so the only other Guardian that’s been around is Max.”
“Speaking of Guardians,” April said as she led the way down a flight of stairs to the room below us. “I hear you’re actually friends with the General. Is that true?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“What’s he like?” April asked, all googly eyed.
“He’s a pain in the ass, but I love him anyway,” I answered.
“Is it true that he fought a master vampire with only a knife?”
A crowd of lab-coated nerds began to gather around us. The scientists were evidently pretty curious about Jaxon.
“I wasn’t personally there, but yes. Jaxon took him out.”
“How bloody was the fight between the General and Max?” another scientist asked.
“I wasn’t there for that one either.” I answered.
“Have you seen him fight?” The man continued. “I only ask because we know so little about Guardians, and I have a theory about how the General was able to defeat an older Guardian.”
“I’ve seen him fight,” I answered.
The question brought back some difficult memories. Right before Jax risked his life to save me, I had lost my girlfriend. I do my best not to think about what happened to Jill. It’s not that I don’t want to remember her. It’s just…painful.
“What was it like watching him fight?” someone asked interrupting my thoughts.
“It was frightening,” I answered. “The sounds of bones breaking, the noise the tomahawk made when it met flesh. It was pretty terrifying, and not just the sounds. It was also the way Jaxon moved. He was too fast. He didn’t even seem human. He was just too deadly.”
If I had their attention before, it was nothing compared to the way they were all staring at me now. I was a rock star.
“Have you ever held the tomahawk?” another scientist asked.
“No,” I answered. “I try to stay away from weapons.”
“I was wondering if what I read about a Guardian’s weapon was true. I found a passage in an old text that said a Guardian’s weapon will grow its own soul after it has claimed many lives.”
“I can’t help you with that one, buddy,” I answered. “I’m not a fighter. I normally spend my days working with Miriam, or helping out the wounded.”
They didn’t seem to care that I wasn’t often involved with the action. The questions just kept coming at me. I didn’t know the answers to most of them. I’m sure they knew more about Guardians than I did, because I knew next to nothing.
Most of what they asked was based off rumors they had heard. Perhaps they read something somewhere, or heard a theory from a coworker. I don’t know. I could answer questions about his personality somewhat decently. I could describe in greater detail how he fought, which I did. Yet, when it came to questions about his abilities, I was hopeless.
The questions were suddenly interrupted by a booming voice from across the room.
“Is that the muff-diver?” The voice demanded.
Everyone instantly broke away from April and me, and went back to work. I was somewhat stunned by the question. It took me a moment to recover.
“Did he just call me a muff-diver?” I asked April as a bespectacled man with a shaved head emerged from an office, and walked confidently towards us. April just shrugged her shoulders, and looked embarrassed.
“Did you refer to me as a muff-diver?” I asked the man when he’d gotten close enough that I wouldn’t have to raise my voice to be heard.
“No,” he answered while eye-fucking me to the point of ridiculousness.
“I’m Ivana,” I announced. “And you can stop eye-fucking me. I’m not interested.”
“I wouldn’t think you would be. Bull dykes don’t usually enjoy the boy parts.”
“Do I look like a bull dyke to you?” I asked.
“No, but you certainly act like one.”
“How does one go about acting like a bull dyke?”
“Well, you’re vulgar. Inside the first sentence you ever said to me, you used a four-letter-word.”
“No I didn’t. It was the second sentence.”
The man considered me for a moment. This time he was actually looking at my eyes instead of my body.
“I think I’m going to like you. You’re okay for a lezbo.”
He offered me his hand. Reluctantly, I accepted it. You see: Momo is an asshole. Yet, believe it or not, the things he says aren’t really meant to offend. He just likes to get a rise out of people. It would have been nice if someone had thought to give me a warning, but whatever.
I followed Momo into his office. I expected to see pictures of monsters or paraphernalia for killing them. I was a bit shocked to see pictures of his nieces, and nephews, instead.
“So what can I do for you?” Momo asked, after taking a seat behind his desk.
“I hear you guys are pretty good at tracking down monsters. I happen to be looking for one.”
“We’re the best in the world,” Momo answered. “Then again, there are only like three other places in the world that do this kind of thing. What are you looking for?”
“I want to locate a vampire.”
Momo stared at me for a long moment before speaking up.
“Why do you want to locate a vampire?” he finally asked.
“It’s personal,” I answered.
Again the man stared at me for a long moment.
“Did you have an ex-lover get turned?”
“I didn’t. I just want to locate the nearest vampire.”
Again he stared at me.
“Do you understand how dangerous vampires are?”
“I do indeed. My friends had some rather violent altercations with them. Perhaps you’ve heard about it?”
“I have heard about that. We have some of the bodies. It was pretty impressive. However, you are not the Guardian. Normal people, even hot rug-munchers, don’t go around looking for vampires. Not if they want to live.”
“I have a theory I’m working on. It may help us bring an end to what’s happening in El Paso.”
“Do tell.”
“Do you know what a ghoul is?”
“A corpse-eater?”
“Yes, a corpse-eater.”
“I’ve heard of them. They’re pretty much off our radar since they aren’t a threat. So I haven’t really spent a lot of time studying them.”
“They are massing underneath El Paso as we speak. All the dead zombies are attracting them.”
“That makes sense,” Momo said. “It’s like an all-you-can-eat-buffet over there.”
“What if the ghouls attacked the zombies?” I asked.
“That wouldn’t happen unless the ghouls are attacked, and since ghouls spend most of their time underground, it’s pretty unlikely.”
“I’ve heard that vampires can summon ghouls.”
“They can. The ghouls dispose of the bodies for them.” Momo said.
“Well, what if some ghouls were summoned right in front of a large horde of zombies?” I asked.
“The zombies would attack them. The ghouls would fight back. A battle would ensue.”
A big smile began to spread across Momo’s face.
“Do you see what I’m getting at?” I asked.
“You want to ask a vampire how to go about summoning a ghoul, so you can bring them out of the ground in front of the zombies. You want to defeat monsters with monsters.”
“So what do you think?” I asked.
“I think it would work if you were able to summon enough ghouls. At least one ghoul for every twenty zombies: which is very possible if all the ghouls are indeed heading into El Paso. The real problem would be the vampire.”
“What if I could offer them protection from the General in exchange for their help?” I asked.
“Who’s going to protect you from them? That’s what I’m concerned about.” Momo answered. “Can you get Mr. Hardin to go along with this?”
“I brought it to Miriam’s attention,” I said. “She wasn’t interested. She thought it was too dangerous. I disagree. I think we need to try it before it’s too late and the zombies try to leave the city.”
Momo got up from his desk and began to pace around the room. I could tell that he liked the idea. He just wasn’t keen on sending me out to meet a vampire. I have to admit I wasn’t very keen on meeting a vampire myself.
“I can’t do it,” Momo finally announced. “Miriam is right. It’s too dangerous. Vampires aren’t normally something that can be reasoned with. They either kill, or turn, humans. To the best of my limited knowledge, there really isn’t a middle ground.”
I expected his answer. I had powerful friends, and these friends wouldn’t be happy if someone allowed me to walk into danger, and I ended up getting hurt…or worse.
“What if you came with me?” I asked.
“I don’t do field work,” Momo answered.
“So stay in the car,” I said. “If things go bad you can get us the Hell out of there.”
“A vampire can outrun a car,” Momo said.
“Any way you look at the situation, it’s dangerous,” I said. “Your entire line of work is dangerous. You have zombies in a glass cage. You have a giant spider in another one. Those things are accidents waiting to happen. Park a ways down the road if you want, or drop me off, and run for the hills, but I need your help to find a vampire. It’s worth the risk.”
“Why don’t you try and take this to Mr. Hardin?” Momo asked. “Try going around Miriam to get what you want.”
“Mr. Hardin doesn’t like to play around with vampires,” I answered. “If I thought there was a chance he’d go for it, I wouldn’t be here.”
“What about the Guardian?” Momo asked. “If you’re friends with him, he would hear you out at least.”
“He might,” I said, “or he might just call me crazy, and tell me to stay out of it. He’s slightly overprotective when it comes to me.”
“You want me to put you in harm’s way when you have an overprotective Guardian watching over you?”
“How about this,” I sighed heavily. “If you help me out, I’ll let you watch me make-out with the first hot chick I find.”
Momo was a horn dog; of that I had no doubt. I was also probably the first lesbian he had ever met. Men tend to be very curious about attractive lesbians, and sometimes these same men are often very willing to do crazy things in order to attract a lesbian’s attention. I’ve seen that first hand many, many, times. Judging by the way his eyes got all huge when I made my offer, I knew Momo could be bribed.
“I’ll need to see a lot more than making-out to convince me to leave this office,” Momo said with a smile.
“Well, watching a make-out session is what I’m offering. However, you’ll have plenty of time during our trip to get me to change my mind. It’s too bad we don’t have a willing participant already here. You’d have an appetizer.”
Momo’s jaw hit the ground. I licked my lips slowly to push him a little bit further.
“APRIL,” Momo shouted. “GET IN HERE!”
Anyway, that’s how I convinced Momo to give me a hand. It turned out they were currently tracking the movements of five vampires. One of which happened to be right in the backyard of our headquarters.
“Wait a second. You’re not getting off that easy. What happened when April walked into the room?”
I grabbed her and kissed her. I wanted to get the show on the road, so to speak. I didn’t want to waste time trying to convince her. She freaked out a bit at first, but not enough to slap me.
“Was that really all it took to convince him to help you out?”
Sweetheart, you would be surprised at what a man is willing to do for a woman when the hint of sex is in the air. A woman only needs to know how to work it. With Momo I was blunt and obvious. I figured it would work on him, since he’s so blunt and obvious. Another type of guy might prefer me to act coy, or maybe even domineering, but not Momo. He’s willing to play the game, but he wants to know what the game is upfront.
“Wow, I can’t believe it was that easy for you.”
I should point out that Momo is an incredible person. He comes across as gruff and rude, but once you get past that, he’s really pretty cool. We’ve become pretty good friends, and yes, he still calls me a muff-diver.
Anyhow, after making-out with April, I grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him out of the building right to the waiting car before he could gather his senses, and change his mind. We were actually on the plane, in the air, before he started to get cold feet.
“I’m not sure I should have left like that,” Momo announced after we had been in the air for a good thirty minutes.
“A little late to be worrying about that now, you pervert,” I said.
“Seriously though,” he said. “What if things go bad without me there to supervise?”
“You’re probably not as important as you think you are,” I told him.
He had relaxed somewhat by the time we reached our headquarters and landed. The second we were off the plane I had him by the arm again. I didn’t want him talking to anybody. I didn’t want anyone catching wind of who he was. There would be too many questions if Mr. Hardin, or Miriam, found that out.
I dragged him to my truck, tossed him inside, and tore out of the base before anyone even figured out I had brought someone back with me. Plus, I drive fast, and I mean really fast. When I first started working at our makeshift base camp, I had a lot of problems with the guards at the gate because of my driving. Mr. Hardin eventually had to step in, and tell them to leave me be. Ever since that day, I like to charge my truck at the gate, and watch them scramble to get it open before I slam into it. It’s childish, but sometimes it’s fun to rub it in.
It’s probably a good thing I’m such a brat. If I bothered to stop at the gate like a normal person, I would have been caught red handed with Momo. As it was, I didn’t even slow down. If they even saw someone in the truck with me, I can guarantee they didn’t get a very good look.
Once I was about ten minutes from base camp, I pulled over and asked Momo for directions. He pulled out a laptop and started typing away.
“You need to head west until you hit the desert,” Momo said. “From there we need to find a nice place to chill out until the sun goes down.”
This is the part where I really started to get nervous. Jaxon and the boys were scheduled to return sometime after sunset. I needed to get what I wanted from the vampire, before anyone figured out what I was trying to do.
We found a little diner along a dusty road near our destination. The sky was a dark blue, and there were only a few clouds in the sky. The morning was just beginning to warm up as we trudged from the truck to the restaurant. The only thing that could be seen, aside from the desert sand in all directions, was an old car junkyard in the distance.
“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” I asked Momo after we had found a table and grabbed some menus.
“I’m positive,” he answered. “The vampire is staying in an old shack about forty miles from here. I’m guessing it’s a pretty young vampire, and it’s probably worried about leaving the area.”
“Why would it be worried about leaving the area?” I asked. “It seems to me that leaving the area would be a good idea with the Regulators right next door in El Paso.”
“From the little that we’ve learned about vampires,” Momo answered, “we believe the older ones often kill the younger ones if they don’t want them in their territory. Every single vampire that was in the area, with the exception of the one we’re looking for, left after the Guardian killed the local master. That tells me it’s afraid to leave.”
“Sounds sort of barbaric that they’d kill their own kind,” I mumbled.
“Of course I could be wrong,” Momo said. “It could also be waiting for a chance to strike. You know what I mean? Wait for the Guardian to relax his guard, and then pounce on him.”
I was officially worried, and it must have shown on my face, because Momo started laughing.
“That doesn’t sound good at all,” I said glumly. “It might eat me just because I know Jaxon.”
“It’s possible,” Momo laughed. “Maybe we should turn around and go home.”
I ignored him and ordered a bite to eat.
I can’t say I had a lovely time with Momo that day as we waited for the sun to set. He did his best to harass me about my sexuality. He even tried to convince me that I should have sex with him before I went out and got myself killed. I could tell he was trying to distract me from what I was about to do. I imagine that I must have looked pretty worried, and I appreciated his efforts, even if they weren’t very effective.
I’ve never exactly been a huge sun-lover, but as the fiery orb began to set and the magic hour of twilight started covering the wide-open landscape, I began to see the sun as an old friend…a friend that I would miss terribly; a friend that kept me safe. It was a weird feeling. I’ve always been a night person. I like going out to clubs and partying until the wee hours of dawn. I guess I was a bit scared. Remember, I’m not a fighter. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’m not any good at fighting. I’m an average person. I’m not truly a Regulator. I avoid the terrible things a Regulator so lovingly embraces.
I was damn near pissing in my pants.
“That’s pretty understandable. I don’t think I would have the guts to attempt what you were about to attempt.”
I would hope not. I don’t think anyone in his right mind would try it. Yet, there I was, summoning up my courage as we left the diner, and walked to the truck. We spent about nine hours at the diner. Momo enjoyed three meals; I picked at barely one. I left a huge tip, but they were probably glad to see us finally leave.
My heart was pounding in my chest as I got behind the wheel. I could hear my own breathing, and it sounded incredibly loud. My hand shook as I started the engine. Finally, Momo reached across the cab, and covered my hand with his own.
“Listen,” Momo said. “There’s no shame if you want to turn back. Nobody even has to know what we were up to.”
“I can’t turn back,” I replied. “There’s too much at stake. We need a miracle, and this might be it.”
Momo nodded in response.
“If you get turned instead of killed, would you mind terribly if I performed some experiments on you?”
“Momo,” I replied. “I shudder to think of the experiments you have in mind.”
He laughed, and we drove off towards the setting sun. A few minutes into the drive my phone began to ring. I took a look at whom the caller was. It was Miriam. I didn’t have much time. Miriam was too smart. She would figure things out, and when she did, she would send someone after me. I knew all too well who that someone would be.
“Jaxon?”
Yes, and I knew it would be bad if he got involved. I’m talking scorched earth and a path of destruction kind of bad. Don’t get me wrong. It’s nice to know when someone cares about you, and I love him dearly for it, but if you put Jaxon in a room with something that may be threatening my safety…Well, I feel very sorry for whatever creature, or person, it may be.
The phone calls continued. Every five minutes, the phone would ring. Momo smiled. I kept looking at the caller ID. Miriam was one thing. Jaxon was another. I was really worried Miriam would tell Jaxon I was up to something. Before I knew it, we were driving past little shacks that were rotting away under the desert sun. The road we were on was partially covered with sand, and eventually we lost even that last little bit of pavement as we set out down a lonely dirt road.
The open desert gave way to rocky canyons and boulders of varying size. Magic hour slipped away and the darkness began to creep up on us. I couldn’t outrun it. Every turn in the road led to more shadows. The full moon was high in the sky when a loud beeping emanated from Momo’s laptop.
“Looks like we have a problem,” Momo announced.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Someone is hacking into my computer.”
“Can you stop them?” I asked.
“Not from here I can’t.”
I sighed heavily. There was always a slight chance Miriam hadn’t figured out what I was up to. That slight chance had been snatched away from me by an annoying alarm. They were rapidly tracking us down.
My phone rang again.
I looked at the caller ID. It was Jaxon. He left a message, but I didn’t bother to listen to it. I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. I kept driving.
The sun had almost completely vanished from the horizon when Momo asked me to pull over. We had entered a canyon. The dirt road ahead of us had a dramatic curve through the high walls. I couldn’t see a thing beyond the curve.
“It’s best that you set out on foot from here,” Momo said. “If things go bad I want enough of a head start out of here.”
“You really don’t want to come with me?” I asked hopefully.
“Fuck no,” Momo snapped. “Do I look like a stupid woman to you?”
“Yes,” I answered. “You do.”
Momo told me the vampire’s lair was just beyond the rocky walls of the canyon. He also advised me to take my time getting there because I might be considered more of a threat if I show up before the vampire awakes.
I jogged through the canyon. I wanted to reach my destination before I completely lost the sun. I didn’t succeed. In the darkness, I almost missed the shabby little adobe shack in the middle of a large clearing, covered with scrub brush and weeds.
The shack was far from impressive. It looked as if a strong wind would send the walls crashing down. I could hear the crunch of small rocks from beneath my boots as I walked to the wooden front door. The moon was my only source of light, and even its beam seemed to stay away from the vampire’s home.
I waited in front of the shack for another twenty minutes after the sun had set, in an effort to be polite. Actually, that’s probably not true. I kept telling myself I was being polite, but the reality is probably more like me being afraid to get any closer to that front door.
Finally, I could wait no longer.
I crunched my way forward and approached the door. I could hear no movement coming from inside, and I realized that I also wasn’t hearing any animal noises outside either. It seemed as though even the coyotes and insects sought to avoid this frightening place.
I knocked on the door.
There was no answer. I began to wonder if the shack had been abandoned. I knocked again, and when there was still no answer, I tried the latch. It lifted easily, and the door swung inward with a loud creek straight out of a horror movie.
“Is there anyone home?” I asked with a trembling voice. “I’m not looking for trouble. I just want to talk.”
The shack couldn’t have been more than two or three rooms, but it was so dark I couldn’t see anything past the dirt walls of the first room. With a deep breath I entered the shack and took a few steps into the blackness. I instantly felt eyes upon me. I no longer believed the lair was abandoned. I felt movement.
I was terrified.
I couldn’t will myself to take another step forward. I also couldn’t retreat. My legs had simply frozen up and refused to obey my commands. What my commands would have been, I couldn’t truthfully answer, but I really did want to run like Hell.
I suddenly remembered my small flashlight. I had placed it in my pocket earlier in the day, thinking it might come in handy. My hand slowly moved down my body towards my back pocket as if it were afraid to make a sudden move.
I fumbled getting it out, and right when I finally pulled it free, the front door gave a low creak as it slowly closed behind me. My heart skipped a beat. I gasped out loud. A spike of adrenaline rampaged through my body, causing me to become jittery and clumsy. I almost dropped my flashlight. I couldn’t find the button to turn it on. I was in complete darkness.
I finally managed to remember that my flashlight didn’t have a button. In order to turn it on, I had to twist the top. I could hear the sound of my lungs gasping for air. It sounded as if I had just run a marathon. My fingers fumbled for what seemed an eternity, but I managed at last to turn on the light.
I shined the light in front of me. I could see a short hallway that probably led to some back bedrooms. I shined it to the left of me; I saw a filthy, cracked window that emitted no light into the room. It was above an old writing desk that had seen better times. I turned the light towards the right. I saw a worn-out couch, a low table with a large waxy candle, and a motionless figure against the wall. I turned around and checked behind me. There was nothing but empty space and the wooden door I had just come through.
I paused, knowing something was off but unable to comprehend what.
A motionless figure against the wall.
I froze up for a moment while my brain attempted to process what should have sent me running out into the desert.
After I unstuck myself, I turned slowly back to the figure against the wall. It was a young woman with pale, possibly even grayish, skin. Her hair was very blonde, framing her face rather prettily. She wore a frilly, Mexican-styled dress, but no shoes. She had no emotion on her face whatsoever. She didn’t blink. She didn’t move. She didn’t even seem to breathe.
I was looking at a vampire.
It wasn’t the unnatural way in which she composed herself that chilled me to the bone. No, it wasn’t that at all. It was her lifeless eyes, and black lips. The combination of those unnatural features on her pretty face made me want to scream.
You see, up close vampires really don’t look human at all. They look like someone made an angry replica of a human being, and filled it up with malice and razors. They even give off an aura that makes you feel dirty. It conjures up thoughts of rotting meat and vile insects slithering up your arm.
“Turn off the light,” the vampire whispered.
I didn’t know what to do. I sure as Hell didn’t want to turn off my flashlight, but I also didn’t want to piss her off.
“TURN OFF THE LIGHT,” the vampire roared at my hesitation.
I obeyed instantly. My fingers fumbled once again but I turned it off.
The candle on the table came to life instantly. It bathed the room in a soft glow, and I only peed myself slightly when I realized the vampire was standing right next to me.
“The artificial light hurts my eyes,” she whispered as she walked around me in a tight circle.
“I…I…I need to talk to you,” I stammered. “I need your help.”
“You smell beautiful,” she purred into my ear when she was behind me.
I was too afraid to turn around and face her. Instead, I spoke to the empty air in front of me.
“I’m not a fighter,” I said. “I won’t be able to defend myself. I only want you to hear me out before you do anything rash.”
The vampire stopped smelling me instantly. There was a flurry of movement too fast to track, and suddenly she was in front of me. Her dead, unblinking eyes were inches from my face. A thin line of black drool oozed from the corner of her mouth.
“You know what I am?” she asked.
“Yes,” I answered, “but in not here for trouble. I think I can help you.”
She smiled at me sweetly, and the smile only served to make her more terrifying. From somewhere inside the folds of her dress she produced a linen handkerchief, and used it to wipe her mouth and chin.
“You know what I am, and you still came?” she asked.
“What I need to discuss with you is very important,” I answered.
“I’m very hungry,” she said. “I could hear your footsteps all the way from outside my home. Such a pretty girl you are.”
“Will you hear me out?” I asked.
“I can hear your heart beating inside your chest,” she said. “Do I frighten you that much?”
“Yes,” I answered. “I’m very frightened.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to be hurt,” I answered.
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t have knocked on my door,” she said as the smile vanished from her face.
“I work with the Regulators,” I blurted out. “The Guardian is a personal friend of mine.”
Her eyes grew wide as she took in my words. Then, her face contorted into a mask of fury, and she grabbed me by the neck. Her hand was cold and impossibly strong. I pushed on her arm with all my might. I couldn’t get her to let go of me. I watched as her bottom jaw began to grow. I saw the multitudes of fang teeth burst forth from her black gums and extend past her lips.
I still had the flashlight in my hand.
I held it up to her horrid face, and twisted the power on. She shrieked when the beam hit her eyes and threw me aside before she vanished. The candle had blown out. I wasn’t sure if she did it on purpose or not, but the room was too dark. Even using my flashlight, I couldn’t keep the blackness from closing in on me.
I stood on shaky feet. My back was to the dirty window. The grime on the glass was so dense it probably blocked out the sun.
The vampire was screaming obscenities at me from somewhere across the room. She wanted me to know what she was going to do to me. She screamed that the Guardian had killed her sister and her father. She wanted her revenge.
“If you hurt me,” I shouted while frantically casting my light about the room in an effort to locate her. “You’re as good as dead. This is your only chance at life. I’m your only chance.”
The screaming stopped.
“Turn out the light,” she said. “Come closer to me. Let me hold you. I’ve been here all by myself for such a long time.”
“No,” I said as defiantly as I could.
“Turn off the light!” she screamed so loudly I wanted to cover my ears.
My light finally found her. She was spread out like an insect on the ceiling. I knew at that moment that I had grossly overestimated the ability of these creatures to reason. I had failed. There was no way in Hell the vampire was going to help me. I needed to get away. Coming here was a mistake, and I was an idiot. The vampire was clear across the room, and I knew that I’d never make it to the door.
I had to try.
I moved slowly. I never ran. That would only entice her to attack. I forced myself to remain calm, even though every instinct I possessed screamed at me to run as fast as I could. I had only taken a few steps when the vampire abruptly spider-crawled across the ceiling, and dropped to the floor in front of the door with a dull thud.
“Don’t come any closer,” I threatened weakly while back stepping away from her.
“What are you going to do to me if I do?” She asked.
“I still have the light,” I said.
“Not for long,” she replied while slowly advancing towards me.
My back hit the window. I could feel the chill of the night through the glass. And then it dawned on me. I had just backed up into another exit. I turned and slammed my elbow into the glass. The window shook and vibrated. It did not break.
I had only taken my eyes off the vampire for a brief second. Apparently, that was all she needed. When I turned around to face her, she was right in front of me. I raised the flashlight to her face in an effort to chase her away again. She simply grabbed my arm, took the light from my hand, and threw it to the floor.
The flashlight spun around on the dirty ground, making the room to go from light to dark, until it finally settled with the beam pointed towards the vampire’s back. Her face was in shadow, but I was still able to see her extended jaw. I heard soft popping sounds as the rest of her fangs broke through her gums.
I cursed myself for being such a fool. I should have listened to Miriam—I should have listened to Momo—and I should have stayed where I was safe. I was a fool to play the part of the hero. I started crying. I remembered how Jax had run out and saved me from the zombies. He would save me now if he could. The vampire wouldn’t stand a chance against him, but Jaxon wasn’t here: I was, all alone.
I was going to die alone.
She still had me by the arm. I couldn’t break her grip. It was like being caught in a vise. I felt the bones in my arm bend, and I cried out in pain. The vampire enjoyed this. I could see a large smile spread across her distorted features.
“Fear not my brave and beautiful visitor,” she whispered into my ear. “I won’t hurt you needlessly. I’m much too hungry for those types of games.”
She wrapped her other arm around my waist and pulled me in close. The harder I struggled, the harder she squeezed my wounded arm. I felt her lips against my shoulders and neck. I felt the sharp teeth against my skin. Slowly, she bit down. Her fangs were so sharp I barely felt any pain…and then she bit harder.
I screamed.
I screamed as loud as I could. I actually felt her sucking out my blood, but I refused to quit. I refused to die. I kept on screaming and struggling. My heart was hammering against her . It was so loud and fierce I could actually hear it.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
The sound went on and on. And then I felt the glass of the window shatter behind me. Shards of it sprayed my face like a sharp rain. I opened my eyes, and I saw a muscular arm reach through the window and grab the vampire’s hair. I saw her eyes go wide as she was slammed against the wall beneath the window. I heard her scream as she vanished into the night.
You look confused.
“I am confused.”
That’s exactly how I felt. Nothing made sense. I had no idea what had just happened. One second I was being drained by a vampire, a moment later I was laying on a dirty floor all alone.
I was bleeding, but my injuries weren’t too severe . The vampire had taken her time with me. Still, there was a lot of blood, and that freaked me out. I pulled off my outer shirt, and wiped at my wounds. There was a trickle still flowing when I was finished. Most of the blood covering me must have fallen from the vampire’s mouth when she was attacked.
There were violent noises coming from outside the shack.
I got to my feet. It wasn’t easy. I was feeling pretty woozy. I used the walls for support and made my way to the front door. Only then did I realize that the inside of the shack was ablaze with light. I opened the door and stepped out into a battle zone.
Actually, that isn’t really accurate. In order to have a battle, two sides need to be fighting. What I saw instead was Jaxon beating down the vampire. He still had her by the hair, and was slamming his fist into her face over and over again.
Suddenly I felt hands upon my body. I struggled. I was so dazed and confused I thought I was being attacked again.
“Take it easy, Mamacita,” Dudley said. “I’ve got you now. It’s going to be okay.”
I was safe.
I laughed out loud. It felt good to be alive. No, it felt great to be alive. My protectors had arrived. I warned her, didn’t I? She should have listened.
Javie was with Dudley. Before I even stopped laughing, he had cleaned out my wound, and started rubbing some sort of gel over the bite. Whatever it was stung like Hell, but I wasn’t paying a lot of attention. I was watching Jaxon beat the vampire under the glare of the spotlights mounted on the helicopter hovering above all of us.
It wasn’t the sound of my heart beating that I had heard as the vampire drained me. It was the sound of a hovering helicopter.
“Why didn’t the vampire hear it?”
I guess she was too preoccupied with feeding on me.
“So the Regulators managed to track you down. That didn’t take them very long did it?”
No, it didn’t take them very long at all. I really can’t complain though, can I? They saved my life.
I watched as Jaxon beat the vampire. He was merciless. I mean, the vampire tried to fight back, but Jax was too tough. The fight was one sided. She must have been a very young vampire.
Jaxon was also dragging out the inevitable. He must have been very angry. He’s normally rather quick when it comes to finishing things off. The vampire began to beg. She began to try and talk to him like I had tried to talk to her.
Nick and Georgie were standing at a distance on opposite sides of the vampire. Their faces looked angry. None of them were here to take prisoners. There would be only one outcome. Jaxon pulled his tomahawk free from the back of his belt. I watched as he slowly twirled it in his hands.
The vampire began to cry.
More helicopters began to approach from the distance. The battle was all but over. The new arrivals were only coming to clean up the mess. I had but seconds to act.
I bolted away from Javie and Dudley. I ran straight towards Jaxon. Georgie tried to stop me, but I somehow managed to sidestep around him and place myself between Jax and the vampire.
I didn’t like the look on my friends face.
“Move!” Jaxon growled at me.
“Just wait, Jaxon,” I pleaded. “Just hear me out.”
“Move!” Jaxon repeated.
He wasn’t listening to me. He wasn’t even looking at me. His eyes were locked upon the beaten vampire. The helicopters had landed around us. There were four of them. Out of the corners of my eyes I could see soldiers piling out. They took up positions all around us, with their guns trained on the vampire.
“You can’t kill her,” I said. “We need her.”
Finally, Jax turned his gaze upon me. If I thought the vampire was pretty damn scary, it was nothing compared to the look on my friend’s face. His upper lip was twitching in rage. His eyes were burning with a cold fury I didn’t even know he possessed.
Then, he moved.
He moved almost as fast as the vampire. I screamed when he grabbed a hold of my arm and dragged me away from the violence. Nick and Georgie tried to follow, but Jax waved them away.
His grip on my upper arm was frightening.
“Jaxon,” I said. “Jaxon, you’re hurting me.”
He immediately let go of my arm. We were far enough away from the circle of soldiers surrounding the vampire that we didn’t need to shout to be heard. Jax was glaring at me. I had really pissed him off.
“What the Hell did you think you were doing?” Jaxon shouted so loudly that more than a few heads turned our way.
“I had an idea,” I replied. “I think it might work…”
“Fuck your idea,” Jaxon interrupted angrily. “You have no business out here. You should be dead right now. If we had gotten here thirty seconds later…you’d be a corpse.”
“I know,” I said. “I know I underestimated the situation. I made a mistake. I thought I could handle myself.”
Jaxon held out the handle of his tomahawk.
“You think you can handle yourself?” He asked. “Then take it. Take it, go over there, and show me what a badass you are. You want to fight? You want to put yourself in harm’s way? Then, let’s get you started.”
“Get that thing away from me,” I said. “It makes me nervous.”
“You started this,” Jaxon repeated. “Consider this day one of your training. Take it.”
“And do what with it?” I asked. “You want me to go fight her?”
“No,” Jaxon snapped. “She’d kill you. I’ll hold her down. You take the swing. Aim for the neck. You want to remove the head. Keep swinging until it comes off.”
“I can’t do that,” I muttered.
“No shit you can’t do that,” Jax growled. “Most people can’t. Then again, most people don’t try and fuck with a vampire.”
Jaxon tapped his earpiece and called for a car to come and pick me up.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “It won’t happen again. I didn’t realize how bad it would be.”
“If it does happen again,” Jaxon said, “if I even think you might be entertaining a thought of endangering yourself, I’ll have you fired. I’ll have you thrown out. You can’t put yourself in harm’s way if you don’t know what’s out there, or how to find it.”
I started crying. I couldn’t help myself. My eyes filled up with water, and the tears started rolling down my cheeks. Jaxon took one look at me and walked away. I didn’t follow him. I didn’t want to risk having him yell at me again.
He stopped about thirty feet away, stuffed his tomahawk back into his belt, and put his hands on his hips. He sighed deeply. I couldn’t hear it but I could see the movement of his big shoulders. He turned around and marched right back up to me.
I could still see the anger on his face.
I looked into his eyes. I watched his face go from angry, skirt around confused, and finally find a home with worried. He held out his arms for me, and I ran into them. Nestled in his embrace I felt safe for the first time that evening.
“I already know what’s out there,” I cried into his shoulder.
“Yes, you do,” Jax whispered. “You most certainly do.”
“I’m glad you found me,” I said.