Bad Choices (Hypernaturals 8)

Day Three

Andrea is out of time. We know he has to leave his faded house at 10 AM this day, so Morgan and I are a little more locked down this morning. Flirting is not happening. We have to think about the upcoming events that we are NOT as prepared for as we would like. It is not fun going in blind.

Andrea follows instructions well. At 10 AM he got into the S10, started it. Morgan listened to the motor with some technical interest, even from our distance. Vampire hearing. She commented, "Well: it runs better than it looks."

"Not saying much. It does not look like it runs at all."

"No. It's not. That may be common around here though. Motors are less affected by the salt air than the exterior body. Which reminds me, we need to clean the living hell out of Jessica's car when we get home. I hate fixing rust." Morgan started the Pilot and followed Andrea at a discrete distance. Former cop: she knows how to be a tail on a suspect.

As you drive away from the city to the West towards Freeport along the top of the Seawall, it ultimately ends and the road drops down to nearly sea level after the wall ends. We ran along the coast road at barely above sea level for a while. Ultimately we arrived at some beach houses in a subdivision-like area and turned right onto a sandy road and away from the coast. That put this set of houses well away from the beach. These would be the less expensive ones rather than the ones that are erased by storms from time to time, down closer to the water. All the beach houses were elevated on stilts in this subdivision, with parking and storage areas underneath them.

Andrea stopped his truck underneath a very weather-beaten house that is far to the back of the subdivision. The farther away from the beach, the worse the houses were maintained. Andrea went up the stairs on the side of the house to a landing and paused on the outside porch. He looked down and back the way toward the beach, acting as if he had not a care in the world. The suggestions of the Juice in full effect.

Once we knew which house he was parking at, Morgan pulled to the side of the road, and we double-timed it to get back into Vampire earshot. Andrea's pause to look at the world fortuitous as it allowed us to catch back up..

The door to the beach house closed with a sea breeze propelled slam and we could hear a man's voice ask "Where is she?"

Andrea asked "Where is who?" and he sounded positively puzzled and a bit fearful. His carefree day giving way to suddenly being in trouble.

"Your daughter. The girl I am going to fuckin' marry?" came the perverts response, irritated at his son's density.

"Who?" Andrea asked again, sounding very confused. More fear entered his voice. He feared his fathers anger.

With a little Vampire speed and also tippy-toes, we were up on the porch landing now. I sub-vocalized to Morgan: "You say the trigger when we get in. I will head for his dad."

That earned me a very dirty look. "You just want me to say 'Go Go Power Rangers' out loud" Morgan said in a return subvocalization she managed to ting with some fake scorn.

"Well... sure. Duh. Also, you did, just now." I had to point out.

"Fine. You pervert." Morgan insulted me.

"No. No. I am going over to the pervert. You are deactivating the perverts kid."

"You want me to chant something geeky so that later when we are alone you will remember it and want to make love to me." Morgan accused me justly.

"That is not perverted. That is stimulus."

"Like you need that!" Morgan's command of coloring subvocalization is impressive.

"Ok. I'll say it because you are all shy about how I will lick you head to toe for being geeky and you hold down the pervert." I said, disgusted.

"No. I'll say it. Nerd. Head to toe?" Then: she did. She busted through the door, went to Andrea before he could even react to the intrusion, and said evenly. "Hey. Andrea. Go Go Power Rangers."

It was pretty sexy.

Andrea went blank, and stood there, exactly as he was instructed to do. The power of a post-hypnotic suggestion upon someone susceptible to the Juice.

His father the pervert was reacting with some shock. I think that trigger phrase confused him.

"Who are you... What?" that last after Morgan froze Andrea.

I crossed to Andrea's father. He was shorter than Andrea by a good four inches, and weighed more than his gym-muscled son by at least fifty pounds. A glance at the kitchen counter showed it to be covered in empty beer cans. The place smelled like moldy carpet, old beer, and cigarettes. The guy might be the very definition of swarthy. He was hairy as hell. I was not looking forward to biting him. 

"Bleah." I commented to Morgan.

Morgan came over to us, and looked at the guys arms, then laughed at me. "I said the trigger. Now you get to bite him. Poetic justice if I ever saw it."

Standing there talking about biting him was not going over well. "What are you .. Who the fuck are you? Why are you in my house? I am calling the cops."

"Hold his damn arm, OK?" I asked

"That was not the deal, but OK. Only because I love you. Also, head to toe. You promised." Morgan snapped out a hand to his wrist, and then braced her other hand against his rib cage, flexing out to fully extend the arm. 

"Hurry up. This guy has not showered today." Morgan said.

"Oh. Tasty!"

The whole time Morgan and I talked in normal, conversational tones, completely ignoring the protests and the struggling. The guys' vocalizations are all the usual things you might expect from someone who just had his house broken into, and is being physically assaulted by Vampire raiders. Nothing really imaginative. "How are you so strong? Fuck. That hurts. Andrea, why are you just standing there? Help me! I am suing you two so hard..."

He was using his free arm to push on Morgan's shoulder to try and dislodge her. If he hit her. I was going to pound his ass if Morgan did not get there first.

I looked at the arm before me. I helped Morgan hold him still by grabbing either side of the target area, flabby forearm, and squishy bicep. Made a face for Morgan's benefit, gauged the proper depth through the extra flesh on this arm relative to Andrea's, then sank in my fangs, and injected the Juice.

More protesting. More frantic pushing on Morgan. A man scream. Gods he tasted dirty. Also male forearm hairy.

"What the Hell did you just do?" I never showed him my fangs in all that. One less thing to erase later. We held him firm, looking at each other from either side of his arm.

"Gods, I wish you had fangs." I told her conversationally.

Morgan looked at the ever more purple-faced pervert, then at me. "I usually wish that. Today I am glad I do not. Was it worth me saying your trigger phrase?"

"Oh hell yes." I agreed with enthusiasm. "That was sexy as all hell."

"OK. Well. No wonder you married Jessica."

"She would have loved that." I agreed. "You would have gotten laid out of that deal."

"By you or her?"

"Yes."

"I see... Noted."

As we talked, pervert-dad slowly quit his struggling and relaxed.

"Wash your mouth out at the sink. I'll hold him if he tries to do anything but I think he's gone." Morgan said as she surveyed Andrea's Dad. I'm not kissing those lips." Morgan said,

I found a bottle of cheap bourbon and used it as a mouthwash. "I am not using that garbage he keeps here as a beer substitute. What is the point of a 'light beer' if you just drink four timers as much?" I asked. I wiggled the bottle in my hand. "At least this is forty percent alcohol."

"Yes. Much better. OK. He is gone. I'll kiss you now so you can put down the swill." Morgan said.

"OK, but later... head to toe, as I recall."

"Fair enough." Morgan agreed.