Chapter 225
The night sped past to the beat of classic rock. Katelina watched naked trees and snowy hills fade to towns and back again. Her stomach grumbled and she tried to figure out where they were going. It was ten hours to Oren's den. At the most they had eight hours of darkness.
If Jorick had asked Micah to take her, things must have been very desperate. She leaned her face against the cold window and assured herself again and again that Jorick would be fine. Each time she believed it a little less.
It was after midnight when Micah announced, "We need gas, and Lunch's growling stomach is driving me fucking nuts."
Katelina glared at a passing tree and imagined slugging him.
A truck stop glowed in the distance. Micah pointed to it and asked, "Who's got cash?"
"Not me," Loren chirped from the back seat.
Micah snorted. "What's new? I think I've got a five, but that's it. Looks like you're buying, Lunch."
"Stop calling me that," Katelina snapped. "And I don't have any money."
"Ah, fuck. All right then, check the glove box. Maybe the bitch left her purse in here."
Though Katelina couldn't imagine Senya with a purse, she did as instructed. The first thing she found was a gun.
"Holy shit!"
Micah rolled his eyes and steered into the truck stop. As he parked, Katelina gingerly moved the weapon aside and rifled through the contents of the glove box. There was a collection of IDs, all with Senya's photo and different names; a cell phone, which Katelina pocketed; a package of wet wipes that Micah grabbed; and several road maps dotted with familiar symbols.
Loren snatched one of the maps. "What's that?"
"It's a map of the dens," Katelina answered absently. "The different marks mean different things, like who's on their side and who isn't."
Micah snorted. "I suppose Jorick told you that."
"No, Verchiel." She glanced up to see the scorn in his eyes doubled. "There's no money."
"Eh, I'm hungry, anyway." Micah glanced back at Loren, "I bet you are, too?"
The teen nodded.
"And we should probably revive those two." Micah jerked his thumb towards Torina and Alex. "Do you think we can catch two people with Lunch dragging us down?"
"You can't hunt people!" Katelina cried, too horrified to notice the insult.
"Sorry to say, Princess, but yes we can."
Loren cut in. "What if we just revived Alex? One person would be easier to kill than two."
"You don't need to kill anyone!" Katelina cried. "Verchiel fed off that Santa Claus guy and left him alive!"
"Santa Claus?" Micah snorted and waved it away. "I don't wanna know. If it was just me or Loren, then yeah, we could drink offa someone without killing 'em, but we need more than that for the three of us."
"You can hunt animals!" Katelina gestured to the darkness beyond the glowing oasis of artificial lights.
Micah snickered. "You ever seen that commercial where they stack up all the breakfast cereal to show how much you'd 'need' to eat? Imagine those bowls are little raccoons." He and Loren laughed and Katelina glared. "Besides, unless you wanna get stuck along the side of the road, we need money. Last I looked, Bambie and friends don't carry cash."
Katelina waved her fist furiously. "I won't be part of this!"
Micah slipped the car into gear and drove to the back of the station. "We don't want you to, Princess. You look like shit. Anyone who saw you would run."
Katelina looked down at herself. Her coat was dusty and her jeans were filthy. The knees were blackened with last night's snow and God knew what else. Maybe part of Rachel.
The thought made her stomach heave.
Micah parked next to a rusty teal car and cut the motor. "You guys see any cameras?"
Katelina made an inaudible reply and crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes moved on their own. They started at the garbage dumpsters, moved to the heavy steel door, and then to the rusty metal sign that said "Employee Parking Only". There was nothing that looked like a camera.
"I don't see any," Loren commented.
Micah nodded. "Me either, so now we wait." He popped the top on the wet wipes container and tugged several out. "Here." He tossed them back to Loren. "Clean up some."
He threw several in Katelina's lap, and then wiped his own face. She wanted to refuse them, but his remark made her self conscious. When she was as clean as possible, she turned her attention to the darkness beyond the tinted window. Micah couldn't really mean to kill someone. He's probably just winding me up, she told herself. He wouldn't really-
Micah stiffened, suddenly alert. With a wicked grin he tossed the wet wipe container in the back, tipped Katelina a wink, and slipped silently out of the car, leaving the door unlatched. In a crouch, he moved stealthily from the vehicle to the dumpster. Then he dashed to the building where he pressed his back against the brick wall.
Katelina watched him with a mixture of amusement and fear. "What the fuck is he doing?"
"Getting ready. There's someone at the door. She's probably putting her coat on and stuff before she comes out."
Loren was right. A youngish woman in a hooded parka stepped outside, an unlit cigarette in her hand. Micah's smile grew and suddenly Katelina understood.
"No! He can't-"
He pounced. The woman never had a chance to scream. Like something from a movie, Micah snapped her neck and her body went limp in his hands.
"Oh my God! Did he - he didn't just - you can't-" Katelina's words ended in a strangled cry.
"Hey, it's okay." Loren patted her shoulder and she jerked away.
"No it's not! He just - it can't really be that easy!"
The door opened and Micah shoved the limp body over the seat and dumped it on top of Loren. "What's not that easy?"
One of the woman's tennis shoed feet landed on Katelina's shoulder and she threw it off violently. "You didn't really kill her?"
"No, I snapped her neck and left her alive." Micah rolled his eyes and dropped into the driver's seat. "We'll get gas at the next place, let's get the fuck outta here."
Loren struggled with the body. "Dude, it's a little crowded back here. I've already got Alex and Torina."
"Just chill. Once we've fed, we'll stash her in the trunk."
"It might be easier if we put Torina in the trunk, too," the teen suggested.
Katelina couldn't believe the conversation and shrilled, "Are you serious? You killed her?"
"Would you shut up?" Micah yelled. At his sudden fury Katelina fell silent, eyes wide. "God damn, I thought you were the mighty vampire slayer." She started to object, but Micah talked over her, "Check her pockets, and see if she has any money."
Loren did as instructed and handed up a wad of cash. "Here. She's got some cigarettes, too."
"Good. Give 'em to Princess."
Loren shoved the money and the pack of cigarettes at Katelina. They landed in her lap in a confused tangle of paper.
Micah met Loren's hungry eyes in the rearview. "Go ahead, just save enough for me and Alex, huh?"
Katelina didn't look, but she could hear it. Wet, slurping, swallowing noises, like someone drinking a smoothie. She pressed her eyes closed and tried to shut it out.
Micah poked her sharply in the ribs. "Hey, quit day dreamin' and count the shit, will ya? If there's not enough there we'll have to get some more."
The prospect of getting more was too much, so she tossed the cigarettes on the dashboard and counted off the bills. Micah smiled with satisfaction. "That ought to do it, if you don't buy expensive food."
Food. With the sick, slurping sounds from the backseat, she couldn't even think about eating.
