Chp 11
~Chapter 11~
AJ scurried around, throwing everything into his duffle bag and backpack, to get ready for his departure. He always knew that he would return home, someday. He didn't expect it to be under these circumstances, but maybe it was a blessing in disguise. He knew, though, that he couldn't go anywhere near his mother or friends or get too close to anyone. He would really have to control his emotions if he ever came across that sort of a situation. Valencia walked in.
"I'd hate to bring this up but---what are you doing? Alex?"
AJ didn't respond, he just continued to pack.
"Alex, what are you doing?! Where are you going?!"
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his back turned to her.
"Tell you what?! What is this all ab---"
AJ faced her.
"That the Daemoniacus are in my home turf! Why didn't you tell me?!"
Valencia looked at him shocked.
"How did you---"
"Never mind how I found out! The point is I did and it didn't come from you like it should have! Didn't you think I had the right to know?!"
"Of course you did! But I didn't want you to go rushing into that dangerous situation half-cocked! Like you're doing now!"
"Sorry, but I gotta go!" He grabbed his baggage and proceeded to the door. Valencia blocked his way.
"Alex! You can't---"
"You can't stop me! I can't just stay here, while those rampaging assholes are eating my family and friends! This is personal!"
"You can't do this alone!"
"I'll be fine!"
"You don't know what you're doing! I'm going with you!"
"What?! Oh, no, you are NOT gonna---"
"Oh yes I am!"
"I can't kick ass and worry about you at the same time!"
"Oh please! I've been fighting them for over five centuries! It's YOU I'm worried about! So just like you made up your mind to go, so have I!"
AJ studied her face. It had determination and whoop-ass written all over it. Maybe she was right. He didn't know anything about these guys except that they were butt-ugly and they had venomous claws.
"Ok, fine! You can go!"
"I wasn't asking for your permission," she replied saucily and went to pack up her few things. They left soon after.
"Umm, Val? Why don't we bring our army? You know, just in case we need reinforcement or something?" he asked while flying to his birth place.
"We did. They're already there."
"How?!"
"Remember when I was gone for a whole week and I told you in the note that I needed time to think? Well, I was really in Florida with our troops, keeping the Daemoniacus under control."
"You lied to me?!"
"Yes, I'm sorry."
"Damn! How will I know when you're lying and when you're telling the truth?!"
"I don't know! I guess you won't!"
"You are evil!"
"I know!"
AJ started humming the theme to Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh nothing."
They arrived a couple of hours later. AJ landed on his knees.
"Man, am I tired! I don't know how you do it!"
"You get used to it after a while."
She helped him up and they walked to the Johnston tomb. They pushed against the wall to gain access to their secret lair.
"Remember this, Alex?"
"All too well."
When they finally got it to move, a familiar and horrid odor surrounded them.
"Do you smell smoke?!"
They looked at each other alarmed and ran through the passage way.
"Oh my God! Go back! Go back!"
Smoke and flames reached out for them. Valencia screamed and they turned back.
"Go! Go! We have to get outside!"
A few seconds later after they had reached outside, the whole tomb was engulfed in flames. They stood there, at a safe distance, in awe.
"They know we're here," said Valencia.
"Ya think?!"
"What are we going to do?! The sun's going to come up soon! They burnt down our lair!"
"Uh, we could, w-w-we could check into a hotel!"
"Where?!"
"I don't know! Any! Let's go!"
He grabbed her hand and they ran off. Luckily, there was a Holiday Inn near by.
"Hello, may I help you?" asked the person at the desk.
"Yeah, we would like a room please," answered AJ out of breath.
"The darkest room in the hotel, if possible," added Valencia.
"The darkest room?" asked the person, raising an eye brow.
"Yes, please."
"Ah," grinned the clerk, "you must be a newly wed couple."
"Huh? Oh! Oh yes!" AJ put his arm around Valencia. "Mr. and Mrs. McLean! That's us!"
"Alex!"
"Shhh, play along!" he hissed at her.
She smiled at the clerk.
"Yes. Newly wed. Now can we please have a room? Hurry, we need one before the sun comes up!"
The clerk chuckled.
"Your name please, sir?"
"Alexander James McLean. And this is my lovely and older wife, Val-lery."
She slapped his arm.
"Room 160," said the clerk and handed AJ the access card.
"Thank you. Let's go, DEAR!"
They ran down the hall.
"Congratulations! And have fun!" the clerk called after them, laughing. "Oh, kids today!"
"Room 150, 152, we're getting closer!" yelled AJ as they zoomed down the halls in search of their room.
"Hurry up! The sun's coming up!"
"There!"
He inserted the card and opened the door.
"Go!"
She ran in followed by AJ and shut the door.
"Phew! We made it! The curtains!"
He darted across the room and closed the curtains just as the sunlight hit their window.
"Oh man, we're alive!"
Valencia looked at him and put her hands on her hips.
"Older wife?!"
"Well you are!"
"He didn't have to know!"
"Whatever! The point is that we're safe and sound now."
"Can you believe he thought I was married to you?! Oh how preposterous!"
"Why?! Am I too young for you?!"
"No! Just too immature!"
"I'd rather be immature than old!"
"Don't go there!"
After their foolish banter, they began to unpack and make the room as sunproof as possible. They taped the curtains together and they covered up the little peephole on the door.
"There we go! No frying today, baybeh!"
"Be quiet and go to sleep, Alex!"
"Eww? Someone's a little PMS-y!"
"We've been to Hell and back the last few days, ok? I'm tired."
"Fine."
Valencia lied down on the right side, while AJ just stood next to the left side.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Go to sleep."
"Umm, there's only one bed."
"Yes, so?"
"So isn't it kind of weird that we're going to sleep in the same bed?"
"No."
"You don't feel a tad bit uncomfortable?"
"You're used to your own room and so am I, but we have no choice. Unless you want to sleep on the floor."
"No, that's ok. I think I can manage."
He slowly and cautiously lied down beside her.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, this isn't so bad."
"Good. Pleasant dreams, Alex."
"Val?"
"Yes?"
"What are we doing tonight?"
"I don't know. We'll figure it out when we get up."
"K."
AJ curled up into a fetus position and fell asleep, finally letting Valencia drift into her dream world.
Denise was keeping herself busy by vacuuming the living room, when she heard the doorbell ring. She opened the door to find two men in suits standing there. One was a tall brunette with blue eyes and the other was a short blonde with green eyes.
"Hello, Mrs. McLean?" said the brunette.
"Yes?"
They showed her their badges.
"I am Detective Hayes and this is my partner, Detective Jones," replied the blonde one.
"Oh, hello! Won't you please come in?"
"Thank you, ma'am."
They walked into the living room.
"Please sit down."
"You're too kind."
"Want anything to drink?"
"No thank you. We just would like to talk to you, Mrs. McLean."
Denise sat down.
"How may I help you, detectives?"
"We are seeking information," answered Jones.
"Ok. About what?"
"We understand that your son, Alexander James McLean, was killed a few weeks ago in Romania, am I right?"
The sadness swept over Denise once again.
"Yes," she said quietly. "That is correct."
"We're sorry about your tragic loss. We have children of our own and we completely understand your pain."
"Thank you."
"I know it's hard and that you'd rather forget that dreadful day, but we beg you, can you please tell us about the death of your son?"
"I couldn't forget it, even if I wanted to. What do you want to know?"
"Anything. Anything at all."
"Umm, ok. Well, we were on our way to our hotel from the shore. A girl, there was a girl screaming for help. AJ, my son, handed me the car phone and told me to call the police and that he was going to see if he could help…"
Denise broke into tears.
"I-I-I shouldn't have let him go! But I couldn't stop him! I couldn't!"
"Shhh." Jones put his hand on her shoulder and handed her a tissue. "It's ok. Go on."
She blew her nose.
" *sniff* Umm, he, uh, so he went back to the beach, to go help the girl. I called the Romanian forces and talked to an English-speaking officer, informing him about the situation. He assured me that they were on their way, so I hung up. Twenty minutes later, AJ still wasn't back yet. I started to get worried, so I decided to look for him. I searched the beach. And that's when I found him."
"Was he already dead?"
"Yes."
"Was there anyone else on the beach, besides you and your son?"
"No. W-w-well except for the girl I'm assuming was screaming. She was dead also."
"Did you notice anything peculiar about your surroundings? Anything at all that seemed unusual or out of place?"
"Not really. But there was a pile of ashes beside AJ."
"How did he die, specifically?"
"Loss of blood."
"So there was a lot of blood surrounding his body?"
"No, that's the strange thing. There wasn't a trace of blood anywhere near him. There wasn't even a stab wound or gunshot wound or anything on him. The only marks he had were two small holes on the side of his neck. The same goes for the girl."
"I see. Is that all?"
"Yes, I'm afraid. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You were very helpful, ma'am. Thank you."
"Ok. I hope this doesn't offend you, but why are you interrogating me now?"
"Because three more mysterious deaths occurred in the past week."
"In Romania?"
"No, here."
"Oh my God!"
"They were two females and a male. All three between the ages of seventeen and thirty-five. They died the same way, severe blood loss, but no trace of blood anywhere. And they had similar wounds on their necks."
"You don't think it's the same killer, do you?"
"Well the incidents are all almost identical. We are almost certain that it's all the same guy or gal."
"Were they all found at night?"
"Two of them were. The male was found in the morning, but he had been dead for several hours, so it was assumed that it occurred the night before."
Denise started crying again.
"Why is this happening?! Why?!"
"I don't know, but we're going to find out."
The detectives stood up and Denise accompanied them to the door.
"I'm sorry to have disturbed you, ma'am, and making you relive that horrible nightmare."
"If that's what it takes to catch those sons of bitches, it's all worth it!"
"Thank you, good-bye."
"Good-bye, Mrs. McLean."
"Good-bye, Detective Jones and Detective Hayes."
Valencia woke up to an empty room.
"Alex?"
She looked around.
"Alex?"
Just then, the door opened and AJ sauntered in smiling.
"Good evening, cupcake!"
"Where did you go?"
"I woke up early and was bored so I decided to take a nice evening stroll."
"Oh. What time is it?"
"10: 30, sleepyhead."
"10: 30?! Oops! I guess I over slept!"
"Uh, yeah. Ooh, ooh, look what I made!"
He opened the ice box and pulled out two long red things on sticks.
"Bloodcicles!"
Valencia laughed. He handed her one. She tried it.
"Hey, it's pretty good! A nice icy cold snack."
"Yup and later we can attempt to put it on pizza and ice cream. The best of both worlds!"
"You are too cute!"
"Thanks. I've been told that many times."
"Because it's true!"
AJ examined his creation.
"You know what this reminds me off?" he said, smirking devilishly.
" *gasp* Alex!"
" *lol* Sorry! But it really does! Look! It's long and---"
Valencia covered her ears.
"Stop it! I don't want to hear about it!"
AJ was dying of laughter.
"What…are we…doing…tonight?" he asked in between gasps.
"We have to patrol and kill any Daemoniacus in sight."
"Peachy! Let's go!"
They gathered their wooden stakes, knifes, lighters, and bottles of holy water and then, they were on their way.
"Ok, where do we start?"
"Let's split up. We can cover more ground quicker."
"Are you sure? Do you think you'll be ok?"
AJ rolled his eyes.
"I'll be fine! I have everything I need right here."
He patted his bag with all the weapons.
"Alright. Well, we'll meet back at the hotel in four hours. Is that enough time?"
"Plenty. See ya later!"
"Bye, Alex. Be careful."
"You, too."
They headed in opposite directions.
Chp 12
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