Chapter 324
When the planes were loaded and fueled up, they bid Hector farewell. Jill's aircraft was larger than the last two Katelina had been on. Inside it was decorated in pinks, purples and lots of shiny metal. The first room was like a miniature entryway with cupboards, and the seating area looked more like a social space than a plane, though seatbelts winked from the cracks of the seats, and a shiny countered bar and a plasma TV on the back wall made her feel like she was in a lounge. A thin hallway led back to the rest of the ship, and Katelina could only guess there must be a bathroom somewhere back there. Another feature that was unlike the previous planes was that there were no windows, closed or otherwise, just decorated walls.
"Make yourselves comfortable," Jill said airily as she moved to the bar and opened the mini fridge. "I'm dying for something that isn't saffron flavored."
"I thought it was cinnamon," Iris said as she plopped down on what looked like a loveseat and motioned her sister to join her.
"No, I don't mind the cinnamon so much." Jill poured a glass of crimson liquid and took a long drink. "Much better." She held the bottle up, an open invitation to the others, but no one accepted. "No? All right then, back it goes."
Katelina sat in one of the loveseats and pulled the seatbelt around her. The click of its closure didn't make her feel any better about flying again. She used to be sick of motels. Now she'd be happy to sleep in one, so long as it meant she never had to set foot on another airplane.
Jorick took the seat next to her and patted her knee. "It will be fine, little one. It always is."
"Sure, until it crashes."
Micah banged into the room, paused, whistled and then dropped into a seat. "I think I've found someone I hate more than you, Executioner." Though the comment was aimed at Jorick, he didn't react, so Micah went on as if he had. "That Sorino guy. He gives me the creeps, the way he's always slinking around, eyeing everyone. I'm not getting stuck with him again. Fuck that."
Loren took a seat across from his friend and struggled with his seat belt. Maeko paused on her way past and fastened it for him. The teen colored red, but Maeko only smiled, nodded, and moved on. Her entourage followed, including Etsuko, who looked no more put off than she had earlier.
Oren and Torina came inside last and took the remaining seats. The vampiress sat next to Micah and rubbed her thigh against his with a wink.
The bald vampire snickered. "How'd you like to join the mile high club sweetheart?"
Without missing a beat, she asked, "What makes you think I'm not already a member?"
It was more than Katelina wanted to think about, so she mashed her eyes shut and prayed that they wouldn't die.
***
The plane took off, and eventually leveled out. Katelina clutched the arm of the loveseat in one hand and Jorick's knee in the other. She could sense his amusement, but she ignored it. He should be equally worried, considering he'd been practically living in the dark ages until recently.
Once they could take their seatbelts off, most of the vampires got up and wandered around the plane. Micah's exclamations told her that there was not only a bathroom beyond the main room, but also two bedrooms and a large cooler stocked with blood "in bags".
"What else do you keep it in?" Jill asked. Her eyes touched on Katelina, then moved to Ryuu. "Unless you like it on the hoof."
Micah returned, a sloshing plastic bag in his hand. "Jorick likes it that way, doesn't he, Lunch?"
Katelina expected Jorick to say no, but instead he drawled, "That's none of your business." Which only led to a chorus of snickers.
Iris kicked off her boots and flexed her toes. "Someone turn the TV on. I'm bored!"
There was a large selection of preloaded movies. Jill got to choose, since it was her plane, but she made loud comments through most of the movie that she'd seen it before and was dying for something new. "It's all the same," she lamented. "Even if it's a new movie. You can walk into the middle of any of them and in two minutes you know the whole plot, because it's the same as every other movie. Especially the big blockbusters."
"But the graphics are exciting," Agnes said. "When I was young I'd have never imagined the things they can show now!"
"It's just computers," Jill moaned. "If you've seen one giant snake, you've seen them all. There's just nothing original left."
Shortly afterwards, the vampires went to sleep. The three treasure hunting women disappeared to the bedrooms, and everyone else settled down in their seats. It wasn't long before Katelina was the last person awake. Though she closed her eyes, every time she drifted off something would wake her; turbulence, or some small noise.
"I'm sorry, did I disturb you?"
Katelina looked up to find Agnes standing next to the bar, a glass in her hand. "No. Just the stupid plane."
"Yeah, they are kind of scary." Agnes nodded to Jorick. "Is that your husband?"
The word made Katelina's eyes bulge. "No, no, he's just my, uh, boyfriend I guess you'd call him."
Agnes sighed. "I haven't seen my boyfriend in a long time. I'm not even sure he still is my boyfriend."
Katelina had nothing to say, so she fell back on her favorite non-word, "Oh?"
Agnes took it as an invitation and dropped into the seat she'd vacated. "We used to live with him, in my mother's house, but then Iris got bored. She does that a lot. She wanted to go see the world and I had to go with her, to take care of her, but Nirel didn't want to go."
Nirel. The name was one that was forever burned into Katelina's mind. Every time she looked in the mirror at her naked torso and saw the jagged scar that ran from her hip to her armpit she thought of Nirel and his knife. He was a tall lanky red head with a cockney accent who'd been working for Kateesha - not because he cared about her, but because he wanted the money. He and another vampire, Adam, had hung her on the wall and "made her scream" to set a trap for Jorick. It was the one time she'd been certain that she was going to die - that she would have died if Jorick hadn't linked her.
She shook the memories away. It couldn't be the same Nirel. The chances of that coincidence were too great.
Agnes was still talking, " - I always expected he'd come find me, but he didn't. Not yet, anyway. Iris says it's silly of me to wait for him, but she doesn't understand. It's not just because he made us what we are, but because he- I don't know." She fell silent for a moment and then asked, "It's not silly is it? There's still time, right? I mean, until you're dead, there's always a chance."
Katelina nodded mutely. If it was the same Nirel, Agnes' chances were long gone, but she had no intention of mentioning that.
Agnes suddenly stood. "I've kept you awake long enough. I should let you go back to sleep."
Katelina nodded again and managed to choke out, "Good night," as the vampiress walked away.
Alone again, she stared at the ceiling and tried to imagine anyone loving the Nirel she'd met.
