Chapter Five

Biting down again to start the blood flow, Nick moved over her mouth to kiss her. "Drink," he whispered. Her lips found his and they kissed. He pushed his soft tongue into her mouth and she tasted his blood. It wasn't strong and metallic, like her own. It was slightly sweet and she sucked hungrily on his tongue. She felt his blood enter her body and course through it with a lightening intensity.

Nick pulled out of her and smoothed her hair over the pillow. Her eyes drooped with exhaustion. He kissed her forehead.

"Let's sleep take you, my love. The sunset is on its way and we must leave," Nick whispered.

**************************************************************************************

Kevin woke and rubbed his eyes. He looked at the spot next to him. It was empty. Immediately, his temper flared.

"Nick!" he roared, flying out of the bed. He stomped down the hallway. He threw open the door to where he had left Sherl. The room was unoccupied.

"That bastard!" he screamed. Kevin's ranting woke the others. Howie came out into the hall, bleary-eyed and hair a mess. "What are you screaming about?" he asked.

"Where's Nick?" Kevin yelled, grabbing Howie's shoulders and slamming him into the wall. Howie's eyes flashed and he bared his fangs. He pushed Kevin off of him.

"How would I know?" Howie said, catching his breath.

"He's not in my room and he's not in here!" Kevin shouted, breaking the door to the empty room off its hinges.

Howie chuckled as a smile played across his lips, "So he's left you?" He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms.

"I don't see how you can find this amusing," Kevin growled.

"What do expect, Kevin? Nick has a mind of his own. Did you ever think of that?" Howie said.

"But I created him. I made him what he is today," Kevin said.

"You made Nick into a vampire without his consent. Those are the worst kind. They never give up their human side," Howie said.

**************************************************************************************

"We won't be able to stay here long," Nick said. They were at Sherl's apartment downtown.

"Just let me gather some things, ok?" she asked from the bedroom. Nick wandered around her living room, looking at her possessions. He picked up a picture of Sherl and another girl. The other girl was Kristy. He sat the picture back down, remembering the cold and calculated way that AJ had killed her. He drained her and then snapped her neck. How could Sherl even trust him, Nick thought.

She came out into the living room, "So where are we going?"

"Somewhere he'd never suspect. I was thinking Europe," Nick said.

"Oh yeah, we'll just hop on a plane to Europe. Nick, I don't have the funds," Sherl said sarcastically.

"I have that taken care of, but we need to take a flight where dawn will be constantly behind us. We won't be able to leave until tomorrow evening. That will give us enough time to find shelter when we land," Nick said.

"Oh, I forgot about you and the whole sunlight thing. That's got to suck," Sherl said.

"Unfortunately," Nick said absent- mindedly.

"How long will we have to run?" Sherl asked quietly.

"I don't know," he answered.

"But, Nick. I have a life, I have plans for myself," Sherl said.

Nick turned to her, his face tinged with anger; "Don't you know you can't have any of that now? You have two maybe three options. Run from Kevin, be killed or be made into a vampire by Kevin."

"I'm sorry, it's just that I haven't taken all of this in yet," Sherl said quietly.

Nick moved closer to her. He touched her face, "I know. I can understand how you feel. How do you think I felt when all of it was taken from me in a matter of minutes? At least you have hope."

Sherl looked up into his pale blue eyes that were continually sad, "I can't imagine. Why would someone create such a sorrowful creature?"

"I don't know," Nick whispered, a tear coming to his eye. It was stained with blood as it ran down his cheek. Sherl wiped it away.

"Well, what do we do for tonight?" Sherl asked.

"Somewhere we can hide out until tomorrow evening," he said.

"I have an idea," she said.

Kevin knocked on the door to the apartment and waited. "Sherl," he purred, "I know you're in there." There was no answer. It had been easy to track down where she lived and he figured Nick would be stupid enough to try and hide out there.

He knocked again. "I don't think they're there," AJ said.

"They have to be!" Kevin shouted and kicked in the door as if it were made of paper. He stomped through the small apartment. He found nothing except the remains of someone packing in a hurry.

"Damnit!" Kevin shouted. AJ moved behind him and placed his hands on Kevin's shoulders. He started to knead at the tension.

"C'mon, Kevin. Let's go find some hot chick willing to get down on her knees for you," AJ said. Kevin remained silent.

AJ leaned in closer to whisper into Kevin's ear, "Or a fresh youth on his way home from the library?" Kevin flinched away from him.

"None of that bullshit until we find him," Kevin said, the coldness in hid eyes flaring.

AJ threw his hands up in the air, "Give it up! Nick was your little toy for a while but he's gone. Find another one!"

"But you can't forget he had Sherl with him," Kevin said. "She could expose us all."

"Nick wouldn't let that happen. He has just as much to lose as we all do. He'll kill her first," AJ said, getting tired of the whole situation.

"Still we must find him," Kevin commanded, "Go through the apartment. Look for any clues as to where they might have gone."