Diamonds Shatter

Chapter 19

19. The End Is Not Near

Dimitri got home in a blur; he did not remember driving, the lighted sign of Pink Decay, going up the staircase. But somehow he was there; home in his room with familiar feel of cold plastic in his hand and a bitter taste in his mouth.

He laid down on his blanketless bed staring at the ceiling with his hands in a fist. Something was poking at his arm but he barely felt it and he did not care enough to move.

 Slowly his body felt like it was turning into liquid, smooth and flowing, but the pain was not in his body, the pain was in his mind and the pills did nothing to dull it.

 He felt betrayed, like a fool swindled into believing a poor man’s tale of lies.

He wondered now if Anna’s house had ever truly been broken into, he wondered now if even that had been a setup.

 He had been so close, with the tip of the dagger on Vladimir’s heart. He might have even grazed his skin how close he had been. And yet here he was, still with nothing, with less than nothing.

Those thoughts pounded in his head over and over again like a physical ache, and he wondered if there would ever be anything strong enough to numb a pain like that.

Finally for lack of anything left to do Dimitri turned and pulled out the card that had been poking his arm. Written on the card in neat small writing were simply an address and a time. Nothing else not even a name. He checked his watch glad to see that he still had just enough time. He grabbed his coat and his keys half in a daze and bounded down the stairs.

 At 413 The Embarcadero all was quiet.

It was one of the worst places to meet and he wondered again why Angelo kept choosing this old shady warehouse as a meeting point. The beige paint was peeling in most places exposing the grey surface beneath, and the only sounds came from the buzzing of over head lights casting an ugly orange glow over everything. A large rat or possum, Dimitri was not sure, scurried past him ducking into the building thru a cracked vent.

Other than that rodent it seemed that no one else was there with Dimitri. He was in fact a little late, but he had hoped that Angelo a timeless vampire would have the patience to wait.

He walked around the side of the giant warehouse to the back where the docks were and was mildly surprised to see the small figure of a girl facing her back to him.

 On this side of the warehouse it was much more noisy, gulls squawked impatiently over the water, and even at this hour traffic rumbled by on the bridge over head oblivious to what was going on just below.

“Ming?” Dimitri asked unsure.

Ming turned around then,

 “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.” she said sounding annoyed.

“I’m sorry I only got home a little while ago and then I came straight here.” He said.

Ming was still looking at him with an inflicting gaze,

 “Where were you before you got home?” she asked, simply curious.

Dimitri held his jaw tight, looking away so that she wouldn’t see his face,

“I was in hell.” he said.

Ming let out an exasperated sigh and flipped her glossy hair back, “Are you always so dramatic?” she asked.

 Dimitri did not say anything more; he simply waited expectantly hoping that she would get to whatever it was that she had called him here for.

“You do look like hell though,” she said then taking in his disturbing state