The Vampire and the Goth Ch. 13

FINALLY, an ally. "See? Totally not my fault!" I said, feeling vindicated.

Angus grinned and started singing, "Ebony and ivory..."

"Goddamn it you guys!"

Everyone was laughing at me now, and despite myself, I started laughing, too.

My phone began ringing from my bedroom. Everyone looked at me.

"Should I get that for you?" David asked

I blushed deeply. "Please."

"Okay, Mr. Hot-to-Trot. One cell phone coming up."

The caller had hung up by the time David brought my cell phone back.

Unfortunately, my semi-hardon was still there. Elizabeth was trying to position her body in front of me so I could retain some dignity, but that just made everything worse.

I looked at my phone and noticed I'd missed three calls from Jadwiga's phone number in the last five minutes. I dialed her back and put the call on speaker. A man's voice answered.

"Hello, is Jadwiga there?" I said.

"Who?"

I was surprised. "Oh, I'm sorry, I must have dialed the wrong number."

I started to hang up when the man's voice came back. "Wait! Is this uh... Stash Mr. Shy-something Russian?"

"Yes..." I replied in a very confused voice.

"Uhm... you don't know me, but I think your sister is my girlfriend, Julia."

Elizabeth whispered to me, "That's your sister's American name."

I nodded. "Yeah. I think she uses that name here."

"Okay. Listen, we've uh... we've had a problem... We need a place to stay until she recovers."

I was confused. "What happened?"

"We were attacked."

"Attacked? Is Jadwiga okay?"

David scoffed at me. "Just tell him where you live."

"Uhm... I don't know how much you know about Julia's life..."

David rolled his eyes and motioned for me to give him the phone.

"Hi, this is Stosh's friend David. Are you currently safe?"

"For the moment, sir. But... uhm... we need a place to stay for a few hours. Somewhere safe, sir."

David gave the caller my address and explained that the doorman would call me once he arrived.

After the call ended, I said, "Is it smart to just tell him where I live?"

David gave me a grin. "You're a 600-year-old vampire who lives in a building with a doorman. I'm nearly 300 years old and Angus is a total badass. We're safe."

I rolled my eyes. "If we're going to have visitors, we should probably get dressed," I said, kissing my chance of getting laid good-bye.

I took a quick shower and got dressed. I had just sat down in the living room when my phone rang again.

"Yes, hello Mr. Szymanski, this is the front desk. You have a visitor who'd like to see you, Mr. Carlos Herrera. He has a Miss Julia with him. He says she's your sister."

"He says?"

"Well, sir, the lady isn't feeling very well."

David's eyebrows immediately arched.

"Okay, send them up."

I opened the door to a young human with olive skin, black hair, and huge, soulful eyes. He had been beaten up -- he had a black eye and a bloody nose, but my eyes focused on my sister, who was holding up.

Jadwiga looked like she'd been run over by a car. Her face was covered in bruises which extended down her neck into her shirt. One eye was swollen shut and her nose was broken. Her shirt was shredded and covered in blood and one ear appeared to be nearly severed. I had no idea how she was even able to hold onto the human.

"DAVID!" I yelled.

David, of course, was right behind me, exactly where he's always been.

"I'm on it," he said, as he slipped past me, picked up Jadwiga, and pulled her into my apartment."

"I'm Stosh, Jadwiga's brother. Please come in."

As Carlos came in, I locked eyes with Elizabeth. "Would you please warm up some blood for us?"

Elizabeth moved to the kitchen as she said, "Aren't you going to give her yours?"

Angus responded, "He's going to need to replenish himself after he heals his sister."

I saw Elizabeth nodding as I hurried back to my bedroom. David had already placed Elizabeth on my bed as he opened his wrist and held it to her mouth.

"Pij dziecko," he said to her, using Polish to tell her to drink. Jadwiga quickly swallowed large mouthfuls of his blood.

Carlos stood in the door, his eyes the size of saucers.

I sat on the other side of the bed as Angus came up behind Carlos. He put his hand on Carlos' shoulder, keeping a firm grip.

"I'm ready when you are," I said. David nodded and pulled his hand back while I opened my wrist and put it on Jadwiga's mouth.

"Elizabeth is warming up some blood," Angus said.

"Good. She took a lot out of me. You got this, brother?"

I nodded, watching the color slowly return to Jadwiga's face and the bruises fade. She was drinking, but I was concerned with how slowly she appeared to be healing -- a situation that usually indicates severe internal injuries.

"Okay. Do you mind if I give her one of your t-shirts? I don't think she's going to want to keep wearing the one she has on.

I noticed that Jadwiga's shirt had what appeared to be bloody claw marks.

"What the fuck?" I said.

David turned around to look at Carlos.

"What the hell happened?"

"I don't really know, sir. I think her brother found out about us."

"Who's 'us'?" I asked.

"Oh... I'm Carlos. Julia is my girlfriend, but she didn't want her brother to know about me."

"Are you saying Janek did all this?" I said, gritting my teeth, nearly blind with fury.

"Well, that depends. Who's Janek?"

David sighed. "Her brother, dumbass. Well, one of them anyway."

"Oh, yeah. I think so. I got attacked when Julia was out trying to find...well, you. I think," he said, pointing at me.

"How did you know to bring her here?" I asked as Jadwiga started to look better.

"She told me to call you on her cell phone, and that you would use your blood to heal her."

David looked at me as Jadwiga began to stir.

"Did you know she's a vampire?" he asked.

"Yeah. My brother's a vampire. I mean, he's not as old as you guys, but... yeah."

I was very surprised to hear that, and judging from the look on David's face, he was, too.

"How do you know each other?" David asked.

Jadwiga pushed my wrist away without opening her eyes. "Carlos..."

Carlos shook free of Angus' grasp and rushed past David to lie next to her on the bed.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" he asked, kissing her on the forehead.

"I am now," she said, looking up at him.

"Can I hold you, or are your ribs still broken?"

Jadwiga tried to sit up but cried out in pain.

"Not yet. But it'll get better."

"We have a lot to talk about," I said, in a stern voice, but neither Carlos nor Jadwiga seemed to hear me.

David looked at me and shook his head. "Save your breath. They're wrapped up in each other right now, and Jadwiga is going to need to sleep for a bit. We're not getting anything else out of Romeo until she's feeling better. Let's leave them alone for now."

I knew he was right, but I hated to walk away when she was so vulnerable.

I stood up and looked at Carlos. "This door stays open," I said in a commanding voice. Carlos nodded, stroking Jadwiga's arm gently.

David and I walked to the dining room, where Elizabeth and Angus were sitting.

Elizabeth stood and pulled out a chair for me. She kissed me gently as she brought out two bags of warm blood, one for me and one for David.

"Angus said you both gave her blood, so I figured I should warm up two bags," she said with a smile.

I sighed as I began to swallow the blood, feeling a swell of pride for Elizabeth's quick thinking.

"Is she going to be okay?" Elizabeth asked.

David responded. "She's a mess. She's healing, but it's going to take some time."

"How's your sister doing?" I asked her.

"She's still out like a light, but she needed the rest," Elizabeth replied. "She's been going through a lot of emotional stuff with Michelle lately, even before all of this."

David nodded sympathetically. "Lesbians always fall so hard."

We were all quiet for a moment, then I said, "When I find Janek I'm going to beat the shit out of him."

Angus sighed, and nervously shifted in his chair.

David looked at him for a long moment. "What are you thinking?"

Angus sighed again and looked nervously at his hands.

"Out with it. What are you thinking?"

"Those claw marks on her shirt didn't look like they were made by a vampire."

Angus said, in an uncertain voice.

Elizabeth's eyes got big and she reached for my hand. "What else could have made them?" she asked, nervously.

Angus dropped his eyes. "I don't know."

"Yes, you do," David said.

We all knew what David was getting at. If the claw marks weren't made from a vampire, they were probably made by a werewolf.

Angus cleared his throat.

"I'm not going to make any guesses. I just think we're going to have a lot to discuss once your sister is up to talking about it."

Elizabeth gave me a worried look, and I put my arm around her.

"It's going to be okay. Nothing is going to happen to you," I said.

"What about you? What about David?"

Angus sat up straight and his eyes blazed with amber. "David is my mate, and Stosh is his brother. Now he's my brother as well. You're Stosh's mate, so now you're my sister. You're my family. And a wolf will die to protect his family."

Elizabeth smiled at Angus, and I mouthed the words, "Thank you," as David kissed him.

"Well, that was the scariest and most comforting thing anyone has ever said to me," David chuckled.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Angus stood up and said, "I ordered barbecue and I got extra so the humans can eat. I'm sorry, I didn't know what kind of sides you'd like so I just got more meat. I figured you can't go wrong with meat, right?"

"That was smart Angus. Thank you," David said.

Angus kissed David. "I used your credit card. You're giving him a good tip," he added with a smirk.

David gave him a dirty look and Elizabeth grinned and said, "You probably shouldn't have called him Shrek."

Angus barked out a laugh as he answered the door.

In typical werewolf fashion, Angus had bought an insane amount of food, enough that the restaurant included paper plates and plastic utensils. The smell brought Jadwiga out of my bedroom. She gingerly stepped into the hall, obviously still sore.

"Hey, would you guys mind sharing with Carlos?"

"We bought enough to feed a werewolf and a few humans. Why don't you grab a plate and sit down?" David asked.

Carlos shyly stepped out behind Elizabeth, still holding her hand.

"Thank you for including me," he said.

Angus smiled. "Anytime."

Carlos and Elizabeth ate slowly and politely, but Angus attacked a plate of ribs in a way that can only be described as animalistic. I noticed David watching him with a small smile.

After they ate, we all went into the living room.

"How are you feeling?" I asked Jadwiga.

"I'm feeling better than I was, thank you," she said.

We were silent for a few moments, and then I said, "So... what happened?"

Jadwiga looked at Carlos for a long moment. Carlos said, "It's your story, Julia, tell them whatever you need. I'm here no matter what."

Jadwiga smiled at him. "Okay." She turned back to us and said, "Have you heard about a celebrity preacher who has a problem with vampires and the humans who admire us?"

I looked at David, and we both said it at the same time. "Brother Humble."

"Yes, Brother Humble. So you know of him."

David laughed. "Lady, that's why I'm here. Brother Humble swindled my last boyfriend's family out of money and he wanted to stop him."

Jadwiga looked confused. "Brother Humble tricked some werewolves out of money?"

David laughed. "No, my last boyfriend was a vampire. He decided to kill Brother Humble in public, and when I ordered him not to, he tried to kill me."

Carlos's eyes got big. "What did you do?"

"Well, I had to kill him first, of course."

I started laughing. "Если кто-то пытается убить вас, сначала убейте его."

David chuckled. "Truly words to live by."

Carlos had a puzzled look on his face. "What does it mean?"

"It's an old Russian proverb," I said, with a big smile. "'If someone tries to kill you, kill him first.'"

"Wow! That's dark. I mean, it's smart, but damn." Elizabeth said.

"Russians have many fucked up sayings," David remarked. "If Stosh keeps hanging out with Dima, you'll hear plenty of them soon enough."

"The Russians know how to survive some serious shit. They're like vampires," I said.

"Or wolves," Angus added. David smiled at him.

"If you know Brother Humble then you probably know there's a lot of people who aren't very happy with him. Our brother, Janek, for one. I was asked to come down here last summer and keep an eye on Brother Humble, and that's when I met Carlos."

Jadwiga's voice dropped low and I noticed her eyes filling with tears.

"I started coming back here every couple of weeks to check up on Brother Humble, but really, it was to see Carlos..."

Jadwiga fell silent for a moment, and David said, "You didn't tell Janek about Carlos, did you?"

"No."

David and I looked at each other, not sure what to say next.

"I stayed here longer on this visit because I saw Stosh at the bar that burned down last night." She rubbed her eyes and looked at me. "I know you didn't recognize me. How could you? I was a baby when you left home, but you haven't changed at all. So, I knew it was you. Carlos told me to stay longer this time and try to meet you, and maybe we could talk. I knew it was a bad idea... but I did it anyway."

Jadwiga's voice was shaky, and Carlos immediately put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. He kissed her hair and said, "It's okay, we're safe now," as Jadwiga took a moment to compose herself.

"Carlos thought you might be at that Night Market thing, and I went, hoping to see you, but you had wolves with you. I didn't know what to do so I panicked."

"And you ran from me," I said.

Jadwiga nodded.

"Carlos suggested I go to that bar again, and you were there, but again, you were with a werewolf. So, I decided to try talking to your girlfriend. But when I got to her, I started to smell smoke. I pulled her out of the bar."

"I'm glad you did that," Elizabeth smiled.

"Yeah," Jadwiga said. "Anyway, you know what happened after that. So, at the end of the night, I went back to Carlos' apartment, and... and..." she collapsed into sobs.

David said, "And Janek was there, wasn't he?"

Jadwiga was trembling as Carlos held her.

"He beat Carlos so badly that he was knocked unconscious, and Janek was starting to drink from him. That was how I found him when I got back," Jadwiga was sobbing now. She looked at Carlos and said, "I thought your neck was broken. I thought you were dead..."

Carlos laid Jadwiga's head on his shoulder and gently rubbed her back. "Shh... shh... it's okay. I'm all right."

I hated what happened to Jadwiga, but I was touched by how gently Carlos was treating her. And I wasn't the only one. Elizabeth reached for my hand and Angus put his arm around David.

As Jadwiga calmed down, Carlos began to speak. "I heard a knock on the door very late that night or early the next morning, and when I opened it, there was a man there who looked like Julia. He said he wanted to talk to her. Well, he used your other name. Uhm... Yahdveegor?"

"It's Jadwiga," she said, with a small laugh. She turned to us and said, "That's why he calls me Julia."

"Anyway, I didn't know she had two brothers, and he did look like her. A lot like her, like her spitting image," Carlos said.

Jadwiga gave him a weak, crooked smile. "We're twins."

Carlos nodded. "So yeah, it was her brother, Yan-it. Shit. Your names are so hard." Carlos shook his head. "I'm never going to get them right."

"It took me forever to learn how to say their last name. We'll work on it," Elizabeth said to Carlos with a friendly smile.

Carlos smiled back at her and said, "Thanks."

"So Janek was the one who hit you," I said, my fangs dropping unintentionally.

Jadwiga tearfully nodded. "He came looking for me when I told him I was going to stay here a little longer. He didn't know about Carlos. I never told him..."

"Because Carlos is human," David said.

Jadwiga sobbed. "And Carlos works for Brother Humble."

I was stunned. I think we all were. No one said anything.

Laura came out of the guest room with a big smile. When she came to the end of the hall, she heard Jadwiga crying and saw the look on my face and immediately turned around and went back.

After giving Jadwiga a moment to compose herself, David said softly, "So Janek was waiting for you when you got back."

I handed Jadwiga a box of Kleenex, and she smiled and blew her nose. "Yeah. He called me a traitorous slut and he started hitting me. When I fell, he started kicking my stomach and my sides. I think he kicked my face a few times, too. Then he picked me up, held me over his head, and threw me on the floor, hard... and I don't remember much of anything after that," she said, tearfully.

Carlos hugged her close and kissed her lightly on the head. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him."

Jadwiga gave him a weak smile. "I'm just glad he didn't kill you." Then she kissed him.

"Carlos and I are in love. We want to take Brother Humble down so I can sire him, and we can be happy together."

David looked skeptical at this point, but he kept his voice gentle. "Honey, how do you know that? Maybe he's playing you."

Carlos looked deeply wounded at what he said, but he continued to hold Jadwiga. "I'm not playing her. My brother's coven got me the job with Brother Humble's ministry so I can get dirt on him. Once we get enough, we're going public. If someone kills him, like your boyfriend wanted to, they'll have a martyr they can all rally around. This way, they'll end up with a clown."

"And that's why he's still human, so he can stay close to Brother Humble," Jadwiga said.

Carlos's eyes were shining as he squeezed Jadwiga closer to him. "But once this is done, your sister going to sire me and we're going to be together forever."

Elizabeth looked at me. "Vampires have covens?"

I sighed. "When vampires work and sometimes live together, they're called a coven. David and I had a small coven in Memphis before the Civil War."

"Are you in a coven now?" Elizabeth asked.

"No. I mostly keep to myself. And every time David joins a coven, he keeps fucking all the male members."

David gave a crooked smile. "Guilty as charged!"

I chuckled at him. "Nothing breaks up a circle of friends like a marauding cock!"

Angus sat up and cleared his throat. "You're done with that now, right? Vampires play around, but werewolves don't. You're not going to fuck anyone else anymore, are you?" Angus said, with a definite tone of menace to his voice.

David smiled at him. "Once you've had the best, who needs the rest?"

Angus nodded and smiled.

"Getting back to the issue at hand..." David said, in a commanding voice and looking at Carlos, "What happened next? Were you still unconscious?"

"I was starting to wake up when I noticed a huge, hairy man in my living room, pulling Julia's brother off her. I thought he was helping her, but instead, he clawed her right across the chest. I yelled at him to stop and I tried to stand up," Carlos said, his voice shaking, clearly near tears. "When I did, he picked up her brother, put him under his arm like a football, and took off running. So I checked on Julia and tried to make her feel better. I have some blood around because of my brother and that helped. Once she healed enough to be able to stand up she said that we had to call you, that you would protect us until she finished healing."

We all sat silent for a moment, and then Angus spoke for all of us.

"Well, fuck."