Before Sunrise Ch. 04

"We're being followed," Ras said as he looked in the side mirror and saw the headlights not much bigger than pinpoints staring back at him.

Dana cranked her head back and looked out the rear window. "What? Who would be following us?"

"Probably that cop that woke you up this morning," Ras answered. He pressed his right foot into the accelerator and urged the sports car to move faster, trying to put some more distance between them and the trailing car. Ras did not feel like answering any questions about the missing woman. And he really didn't feel like having a confrontation with the detective tonight, but he would if the need arose.

Dana turned back around and faced the windshield. She spoke, not looking her companion in the eye. "Ras, if he catches up to us what will..."

"Kill him." Ras anticipated Dana's question and gave the answer she knew would come. "You've been around my kind long enough to know what I would have to do to keep our existence a secret. I don't want to do it, but I will if that's what it comes down to tonight. Let's see if we can outrun him first."

Ras stomped on the gas pedal and the powerful auto lurched forward, pushing both passengers back into the plush seats. Neither were worried about a high-speed crash as their respective powers would save them from harm. What they did worry about was what would happen if they were caught by the intrepid inspector.

"Hang on," Ras said to Dana as he jerked the wheel to the right and took a sharp turn to try to lose their follower. The car's tires screeched their disapproval at Ras's sudden change of direction but the precision automobile held the road and the headlights disappeared from the rear view. He once again matted the accelerator and sped off.

"He may turn down this road," Ras said as the car screamed down the pavement, "but he'll never catch us now. And we'll be at the mansion in a few minutes."

"And I have a little something for Detective Abramson as well," Dana said as she closed her eyes and placed two fingers from her right hand on her temple. Ras began to see the sky cloud up quickly then watched as the fog set in behind them and totally covered the area in thickness. "If he can get through that without going headlong into the trees then we deserve to be caught."

Ras looked back again and saw the fog swirl and become even thicker, becoming nearly impenetrable. He smiled as he turned back and looked out the windshield of his red roadster, nothing but clear air and road ahead of them.

"I think I love you," Ras said and leaned over to kiss his redheaded passenger. Dana returned his kiss then smiled a smile of her own.

"I like the way you think," she said as the car sped toward her benefactor's home then corrected herself, "The way WE think."

++++++++++

Joe Abramson eased his foot into the brake pedal as the haze thickened around him. As a police officer, he had been trained in offensive and defensive driving so he knew how to safely pull the car over in the dense fog. He felt the tires on the right side of the road hit gravel and knew he was on the shoulder. The detective put the state-issued car in park then hit the switch for the four-way flashers. He sat back in the driver's seat and let out an exasperated breath. No way was this a coincidence, he thought at the low mist swirled around the perimeter of the car. He reached for the radio microphone and keyed the talk button with his thumb.

"Central, this is GC724... Please advise adverse weather conditions. I'm westbound on Wilmont Avenue about a quarter mile from Old GR Road. Encountered very thick fog. Over."

The radio was silent for two seconds then crackled to life before a female voice responded to Joe's query. "GC724, this is Central. Radar shows no adverse conditions in your area. You sure you're on the right road, Joe?"

"Central, GC724. I know where I am, Denise!" Abramson shouted into the mic as the haze continued to swirl around the car. "The goddamn fog out here is as thick as pea soup and it came out of nowhere!"

"You don't have to shout, Joe!" Denise said from the other side of the radio. "Do you want me to send a cruiser out to help you?"

"No," Joe replied, his voice at a more acceptable decibel level, "I can find my way back. Just have to wait this out. I was in pursuit of a suspect until this fog laid in. I'll wait for it to pass then continue. Over."

"Suspect for what, Joe?" Denise asked. After no response she asked again. "GC724, what suspect were you pursuing? Over."

"Never mind, Central." Joe replied dejectedly. He knew he would face more ridicule if word got out that he was chasing the conspiracy theory. "I'll wait for this to dissipate then head back to the precinct. Out."

Abramson tossed the mic back on to the dashboard then fished his cell phone from the pocket of his rumpled suit jacket. He opened his contacts then found the one he was looking for and began typing with his thumbs:

Sorry about my attitude earlier. Coffee later?

Thirty seconds later, Denise replied with a text message of her own:

Sure. My place again? 😊

Joe smiled when he saw her reply. He knew he was not easy to get along with sometimes. He also knew his wife had secrets. So why shouldn't he as well? His thumbs began the dance over the small keyboard under the glass of his device:

See you in an hour!

++++++++++

Ras motored up the drive of the stone mansion where Solomon and Elizabeth held court nightly and whipped the car around the circle drive where it came to rest in front of the massive marble steps leading up to the double doors of the entryway. Both Ras and Dana exited the car at the same time then stopped in their tracks as they saw the ever-present Artemis waiting for them on the front porch.

"Well, Dana..." Artemis began as he descended the stairs to the gravel driveway, "I see you finally decided to come to your senses and return back where you belong. Solomon and Elizabeth have been most displeased with your choice of... company."

Ras put a hand on Dana's shoulder to keep her aware of her surroundings then took a step forward to face his one-time war rival. "Rebel, you'd do well to steer clear of us tonight. I'm in a bad mood and you're making it worse."

Artemis closed the gap between the two and stood nose-to-nose with Ras in the circle drive. "I neither fear nor concern you, Yankee. Tonight would be a good night to see who the better man is." At that, both beings' eyes flashed red and they stood ready for combat. Before the tussle began, another voice from behind Artemis stopped the fray from beginning.

"Now, gentlemen," Solomon said in a booming voice from just outside the doorway, "I'll have none of this on my front lawn tonight. There's a time and place for everything and here and now are neither. Artemis, go about your nightly business."

Artemis looked over his shoulder at Solomon then straightened his body back to his normal posture. Teeth and nails retracted to their usual length and his eyes flashed back to the grey with which he was born. "Of course, Solomon," Artemis replied in his deep Southern drawl as he tugged at the bottom of his suit jacket to smooth any stray wrinkles. "So sorry to have disturbed you."

Artemis walked past Ras and Dana with a slight grin on his face. "Enjoy your night," he said as he passed the new couple and with a wisp of vapor he disappeared into the Michigan night air. Ras returned to his more human appearance then looked first to Dana on his right then to Solomon standing on the porch twenty feet in front of him.

"Rasmussen Delevan," Solomon said as he trained his focus on the couple in his driveway. "I was hoping to see and speak with you at the party the other night." He opened his hand and gestured toward Dana, "But I see you found someone else to spend time with. Very alluring, our Dana, wouldn't you say?"

Dana then stepped forward and addressed her one-time benefactor. "Solomon, do you have a problem with me seeing Ras?"

"Not at all, my dear," Solomon responded with a smile and a clap of his hands. "But you know the rules, Dana. You should have talked to Elizabeth and me first."

"She's not property, Solomon," Ras said expecting a confrontation. He steeled himself for battle and felt the heat rise once again behind his eyes.

"Relax, Ras... relax," Solomon said, his voice and stance never wavering from calmness. "I have no wish to make a scene tonight. Please, come in and join Elizabeth and I for a drink. You're a single malt drinker, if I'm not mistaken. On the rocks?"

Ras looked at Dana and resigned himself to the fact that he would have to have this meeting sooner or later if he and dana were to remain together. He drew a deep breath then took Dana's hand in his. "Single malt would be just fine. Thank you, Solomon," he answered as he and Dana climbed the steps to meet with the leaders of the clan. Ras's mind flashed back to the first time he had met with the two. He hoped that tonight's get-together would go more smoothly than that first encounter.

As they reached the door, Solomon kissed Dana on the cheek as she passed then he clapped his hand to Ras's shoulder. "We haven't forgotten what you did for us all those years ago, Ras. We will never forget. You are a part of us."

++++++++++

April 17, 1957

The gathering had been like many others throughout the years. The clan met, pledged their loyalty to the leaders, which for the past sixty years, had been Solomon and his wife Elizabeth, welcomed new members into the fold, then partied until dawn with alcohol and humans who, unbeknownst to them until the very end, were about to live out of their worst nightmare.

Bill Haley and the Comets sang about rocking around the clock on the state-of-the-art hi-fi stereo system in the large gathering room where the guests danced, drank and mingled. As far as humans went, there were mostly young women in sweaters and long skirts, but there were also a few human males there, quite a few in leather jackets, cardigan sweaters, and greasy pompadour hairdos.

Ras had been nursing his second Jameson on the rocks for thirty minutes while he chatted up a curly blonde. Her white button-up sweater barely contained her massive breasts held precariously in check by an eye-gouging bullet bra and he desperately wanted to remove the seemingly medieval restraint. He had plied the young woman with three rum and Cokes then moved their conversation to a quiet room off the main parlor.

Ras had found out her name was Missy and she was a sophomore at UDM studying nursing. A native of Battle Creek, she had come to the party with her best friend Jill and her boyfriend, a tall burly greaser named Derek, "But everyone calls him Rocko," the bubbly blonde said as she gulped down her third rum and Coke.

"Yeah, I saw him," Ras replied with a bit of a sneer as he looked to the door. On the other side of it, the party raged on with the leather-clad hood and the others. "More grease in his hair than on the wheel bearings of my '49 Ford." He turned his attention back to the tipsy blonde sitting next to him and turned on the charm.

"But you, my dear," Ras continued as he ran a finger down Missy's cheek, "You're a very pretty young lady. Far too pretty to be hanging out with the likes of that Neanderthal, let alone the rest of us here."

"How old are you?" Missy asked Ras with a puzzled look on her face. Ras couldn't tell if the look was quizzical or ignorant. He had been in her company for twenty minutes and was trying to decide just how brainless the co-ed was.

"I'm twenty-eight," Ras answered his standard reply when someone asked. Although he had been around for almost one hundred-thirty years, technically, he had not aged a day since his wounding on the battlefield. Although he was only twenty when transformed, he had always looked a little older than his age so he embellished slightly. "Is that too old for you?"

"No, not really," the busty blonde replied. "Did you serve? My older brother served in Korea."

"Yeah," Ras responded, "I was with the 7^th Michigan at Cress Ridge."

"Is that in Korea?" Missy asked once more with the puzzled look.

"No," he replied quietly, "Pennsylvania. With General Custer."

"General Who?" the clueless girl asked for clarity.

"Never mind," Ras said changing the subject while running his finger down from her cheek to her neck and rubbing his target for the night. He could find the pulsing vein at midnight in a blizzard. "Let's go sit over here on the couch and get more comfortable." He peered into her eyes and willed the young woman to her feet.

As he entranced Missy and got her feet moving to the other side of the room, a quick knock came to the door followed by it swinging wide open. A creature named Donovan that Ras had known for a while and considered a friend came rushing into the room.

"Ras, you'd better get out here." Donovan said, his eyes full of worry.

"What is it, Don?" Ras asked, breaking the trance he held with Missy.

Donovan only spoke one other word: "Trouble."

Ras could hear the ruckus now that the door was open and swiftly got to his feet. As he reached the door, he could see that Donovan had been wounded.

"How did this happen?" Ras asked pointing at the gash in Donovan's left side.

"That big fucker in the leather jacket," Donovan replied, "he snuck up on me and cut me with a damn switchblade. Of course, it didn't hurt but he slashed one of my favorite shirts!"

Ras half-smiled at Donovan's humor then followed him out into the main hall. He could hear "the big fucker" Rocko speaking to the crowd in the parlor. The music had changed from Bill Haley to Elvis telling his Mama that it was all right.

"You assholes think you can horn in on our women?!" the leather-clad behemoth shouted to no one and everyone at the same time. "I know what you are and I know how to stop you!" With that, he grabbed a pool cue and snapped it over his knee, creating a jagged stake. "Who wants to try me?!"

Solomon stepped to the forefront and tried to calm the situation. "Friend," he began, "No one wants to hurt you or anyone else here. I think you've had a little too much to drink. Come talk to me and we'll sort all this out, OK? No need for violence."

"Fuck you, bloodsucker!" was all Rocko had to say to Solomon's peace offering. He charged the smaller being and drew the sharp stick back to strike at Solomon's heart. Solomon was taken by surprise at the human's quickness and didn't have time to dodge the impaling utensil.

The stake found its mark, but not on the intended target. Swiftly sliding between Rocko and Solomon, Ras had taken the brunt of the blow directly to his upper rib cage. His eyes flashed red as the stake drove through him and nearly pierced through his back. Ras had enough time to look down and see the end of the pool cue protruding from his chest. He turned and smiled at Solomon then collapsed to the floor.

As Solomon knelt by his fallen comrade, Rocko took the initiative and rallied his human troops. "Kill them all!" he screamed and went for the other half of the broken cue. Solomon flew into a rage as he stood from the injured Ras.

"You want a fight?!" Solomon asked the leather-jacketed thug. "Come on!"

The melee did not last long, probably less than three minutes, but many humans and other creatures lay dead on the parlor floor when it was over. Solomon had come out unscathed and had the antagonist Rocko by the throat, his feet dangling six inches off the ground.

"You're mine now, you bastard..." Solomon said as his eyes raged a forest fire. "You won't die tonight, but you'll wish you had after you see what I have in store for you." He flung the greaser across the room where he struck the far wall. With a snap of his fingers, Solomon summoned three lower female creatures and sic'd them on the prone troublemaker. "Take him to the cellar and drain all but one pint from him, then bring him to me so I can give him his final orders."

Solomon was joined by Elizabeth as the females whisked Rocko away and both knelt once again to check on Ras's condition.

"Vin ne vhzhyv..." (He did not survive...) Elizabeth said quietly to her concerned husband.

"It doesn't look that way, my dear..." he said solemnly. As he moved to lift his body from the floor, suddenly Ras's eyes shot open and a scream escaped his lips. The pain was more intense than the bullet that took off the back of his head, but he was not gone, not yet.

"Ras..." Solomon said into his injured friend's ear. "Ras, can you hear me?" Ras said nothing but opened his eyes once more and looked at Solomon then Elizabeth then fell back to unconsciousness. Solomon summoned his servant to his side.

"Damian, take him to one of the rooms and have the females care for him. We owe him our lives..."

Ras spent two weeks at the mansion in and out of consciousness, nearer to mortality than he had ever been since the War. When it looked as though there was no hope, Elizabeth spoke to Solomon.

"Chy mozhemo shchos' zrobyty?" (Is there anything we can do?) she asked her husband who was standing outside his room.

"There is one thing, my love..." Solomon said with a heavy sigh. "But it would mean crossing a line we drew many years ago. I will make the arrangements..."

++++++++++

"Do you remember that night, Ras?" Solomon asked as he handed him a tumbler half-full of amber liquid and ice.

"Bits and pieces..." Ras replied, trying to think back. "Your servants tending to me... Horrible dreams about... about someone from the past... A vague memory of an old woman. Then nothing. I was awake and better."

"You see, Dana, " Solomon said to the redhead as he fixed her drink at the bar, "the stake did not pierce through Ras's heart, but did puncture it slightly so that he was dying a slow 'death.' Had I not done what I did, Ras would be nothing more than dust floating through the wind right now."

All three beings in the room looked as the door opened and Elizabeth strode through and took her place by her husband's side. Ras nodded to her and Elizabeth smiled genuinely. Of all the creatures she had met, she liked Ras the most and, although she would not have sex with other males besides her groom, she often thought she might make an exception for the one standing before her.

Ras took Elizabeth's hand and kissed it lightly. "Dobrryy vechir," (Good evening) he spoke to her in her own language, exciting her even more. Solomon could feel her arousal but said nothing.

"Good evening, Ras... Dana." Elizabeth said in heavily accented English to both. "I hope you have made good friendship with each other."

"We have indeed, Elizabeth, dear." Ras said as he looked to Dana and smiled.

"But how did Ras recover from the wound to his heart?" Dana asked Solomon. "What did you have to do?"

"In good time, my dear," Solomon answered without answering. He then continued with his tale. "So, yes, Ras saved me from mortality, but we also took steps to save him as well. There are those in the clan that say we're even."

"There are others that would disagree with that line of thinking," Ras argued. "But I am grateful to you and dear Elizabeth for everything you did for me back then, if I hadn't told you before."

"You did," Solomon answered as he took Elizabeth's cold hand in his own. "And our gratitude for your intended sacrifice is equal. That's why we've pretty much left you alone this whole time and not pestered you about coming to our gatherings when requested or quarreling with poor Artemis when he's just doing his duty by talking to you."

"Solomon, if you want to talk to me then you know where to find me," Ras responded, a touch of annoyance in his voice over his Southern counterpart's name being brought up. "Don't send your lap dog or I'll swat him with a newspaper."