The Vampire from Hell

Chapter 14 - The 'G' Letter

Chapter 14 - The 'G' Letter

While I sat on a row of aluminum bleachers near one corner of the gym, I glanced to see where Michael and Blick were. It was easy to spot them. They stalked around the parameters of the very large, very empty gym in full commando outfits, all black, all tightly clothed, and armed to the teeth with a variety of automatic weapons. Images of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible came to mind and I stifled another giggle. It was obvious to me the zombies were long gone. But they had to contain the situation according to J's wishes. So I sat and waited while they checked the outlining rooms adjacent to each wall of the gym. My best guess was that the gym, which Blick referred to as his training center, was the size of four football fields stacked two by two. It was beyond vast. I assumed all the archangels' training centers were the same size. 

The voice inside my head beamed, "Think of this place full of zombies coming at you, gal." 

Shut up, I promptly replied. 

In the past that comment would have made me literally sick to my stomach. My stupid telepathy was developing a mind of its own as it grew in strength. That worried me. It was exhausting keeping up with the mental jabs I'd get. I wondered how I could quiet the inner voice. I'll solve that another day, I thought. Right now, I was feeling great despite the fact that we were wasting our time looking for zombies. That was the guys' scene anyways, not mine. I was in too good a mood to let anything bother me, thanks to the mind meld with J. 

I hummed "The Pretender" by The Foo Fighters as I played with the fastener on the machete stuck to my right leg. Michael had insisted I 'go to battle' --as he put it-- armed with something. I'd agreed to wear two sawed-off shotguns strapped to each leg and a couple of machetes stuffed in the back of my black vest. I felt ridiculous, like I was the girl in Resident Evil about to mow down some zombies. But I hadn't actually seen any, so I was losing interest fast. 

Thankfully, I could think clearly again. J healed the fraction in my mind he had caused during our mind meld. I thought he had wanted to kill me. But that hadn't been his intention at all. I felt more aware, more alive, fully engaged, and ready to launch every vampire power I had in my possession. Flexing my elbow as I extended my arm, I admired the new olive complexion that had replaced my pale skin color. My skin was very tan, almost golden like Michael's. 

J's words kept playing over and over in my head. "I've underestimated you. You could be a real asset to the team." I didn't know if that was good or bad. Actually, I was happy just to be alive. He could have turned my brain to Southern fried chop suey. That's how Lynn referred to anyone who had lost their wits. Or I could have ended up one sandwich short of a picnic. I giggled out loud. I loved her sayings. She texted that one to me often when she was upset with anyone online who disagreed with her last theory about Ash's character, Maxwell. I found her theories fascinating and fairly accurate according to my own research I'd done about vampire mythology and folklore. I enjoyed her flare for communication because it helped me learn more colloquialisms. Something I couldn't pick up from reading the urban dictionary. Oh wait! Instantly it dawned on me that I had forgotten to close our chat earlier. I had left her hanging. Good grief! 

I decided to do some 'tayloring' while I waited on the guys. What harm could it do? I removed my iPhone from my back pocket and opened a few photo albums. I selected a picture to send to Lynn. It was one of my favorite pics of Ashton, a still photo from the promotional posters of Blood Realm's first season. He stood in the center of the cast, a few inches in front of the others. His wavy, dark hair was tossed back over his head with one delicious long curl falling along his right cheek. He wore a blood red T-shirt and dark jeans. The famous long black leather trench coat, collar turned up, completed his vampire attire. And of course, he had lowered his forehead just slightly to peer at us with his chocolate brown eyes. The vampire look is what we called it. I added a *woah* and my capital R signature to the text, so Lynn would know it was from me. (It was possible that she hadn't put my new number in her phone yet.) I hit the Send button. The text message went through instantly. "Wow, what a great connection we have here," I snickered.