Chapter 55
When Katelina finished, Jorick rounded up the others and they climbed into the giant car. Torina and Oren sat up front, and the other three were in the back as it had been before. The tension inside the vehicle was thicker than the fog gathering outside, and they all gave in to it. The uncomfortable silence seemed almost like a sixth passenger that was hogging the conversation. The only things that kept it from being unbearable was the muttering of the engine and the swish of the windshield wipers cutting back and forth in their fight with the ever gathering condensation.
Katelina's watch said that only a couple of hours had passed, but the trip to Sorem felt interminably long, and if she thought she'd be happy to see the place she was wrong. It was another small dingy town that looked as if it had been abandoned a few years ago and left to squalor and decay. She stared in disbelief through the window and wondered why vampires never lived in modern metropolises. Wouldn't they fit in better in a bustling city than a decaying little village? She turned to Jorick, tempted to ask him, but the impenetrable silence was too hard for her to break. Oren, on the other hand, had no problem.
"We probably have seven hours until dawn." His voice seemed too loud against the quiet.
Jorick nodded and patted Katelina's leg reassuringly. "That's plenty of time - assuming we can find them."
Torina wrinkled her nose at the dilapidated houses that slid past them. The pink streetlights reflected in the misty fog and gave the whole place a nightmarish quality. "Considering the size, it shouldn't be too hard."
"You'd think that," Oren murmured.
They drove in circles around the wet little town, all of them peering through the windows at fog that refused to lift. A single gas station was open. Its neon lights were like an oasis in the dense, dark place, but by the car's third circuit of the town it had closed. The large green glowing sign shut off as they passed and plunged the parking lot into darkness that made the night seem bleaker.
It was the fourth circuit when Jorick suddenly whispered, "Wait." The brakes squealed as Oren stopped the car. The raven-haired vampire stared out the window at a squat blue house. "Yes. I think we've found it."
Kateesha wound down the window and stuck her head out. She inhaled deeply and, for the first time since they'd gotten in the car, she smiled. "I can smell Claudius from here."
Katelina looked at the sad little house and the windows stared back at her, blank, dark and empty. Weeds grew around the base of the structure, and the yard looked unkempt with brown grass at various lengths; heaps of autumn leaves gathered in every little hollow. She wondered how he could have known. Had he smelled Claudius, as Kateesha claimed she did?
Oren met Jorick's eyes. The two men nodded at one another, then Oren slowly edged the car forward. They moved three blocks down and pulled into the parking lot of the gas station, where they parked next to a large green dumpster.
The doors opened and the car's occupants disembarked into the mist. Katelina stood next to the vehicle uncertainly. She rubbed her naked arms and wished for one of Oren's long sleeved shirts. The smell of frost was in the air and she had to concentrate to keep her teeth from chattering as she watched the four vampires stretching and preparing themselves for what lay ahead.
Oren reached back into the car and pulled several cloth wrapped parcels from between the seats. He handed them out, keeping the longest one for himself. Katelina watched as he un-wrapped it to reveal a long machete with a carved wooden handle. She glanced to see Kateesha and Torina each holding short shiny daggers.
Jorick opened his to find a long, thin dagger. He gave it a satisfied nod and stuffed the cloth wrapping in his pocket.
"This should be adequate," Kateesha agreed and Torina gave a silent nod.
"Good," Oren slammed the car door. "I'm afraid I left most of my weapons stash elsewhere." He gave Jorick a pointed look. "I believe someone burned the house down on top of it?"
"Yes, well." Jorick brushed his comment aside. "I'm sure these will do." He narrowed his eyes and looked at the other three. "Claudius is mine."
"Yes," Kateesha purred. "So you've said. Only don't forget our arrangement."
"I'm sure we won't," Oren replied. "I doubt you'd let us."
"Someone has to keep you focused," Kateesha said pointedly, looking straight at Jorick. "Otherwise some of you are likely to forget their promises altogether and just disappear."
Jorick growled low and Kateesha laughed. "Oh come now, you know I'm right. It's so much easier to do when things get- complicated."
Oren kept his face expressionless. "Enough, Kateesha. We need to discuss our plans."
"What plans?" Torina asked, brandishing the dagger menacingly. "We just kill everyone we find."
"Yes," Oren responded impatiently. "But we need more than that. For instance, what about the human-" he cleared his throat and amended it. "Katelina? Is she going with us or staying in the car?"
Torina gave her a quick once over. "She should stay with the car."
Kateesha walked around to stand next to them, smiling. "Oh, I agree." She ran a hand over Katelina's arm that made her shudder. "She'll be a burden once we're inside"
Jorick narrowed his eyes at the dark temptress and she removed her hand. "And should they attack the car, who will defend her? Who's going to stay behind?"
"Why would they attack the car?" Kateesha purred.
Jorick wrapped his arm around Katelina and continued to eye Kateesha meaningfully. "You can never tell. I thought she'd be safe the other night, didn't I?"
Annoyance crept over Kateesha's features. "You should never have agreed to do that favor for Patrick. Look at what it's gotten you in to."
Katelina flinched at the name and Jorick scowled. "I'm not 'into' anything I don't wish to be - you're the only one who wants things differently."
Kateesha sneered haughtily. "You let protecting the human go to your head! You were only supposed to guard her, not fall in love with her. Did Patrick know?"
Katelina looked at her feet, her heart sick. She didn't want to hear this right now. She needed to believe in Jorick; to trust him, and how could she with half formed suspicions running rampant through her mind?
But Jorick didn't answer, and Kateesha's eyes lit up at his silence. "He knew, didn't he?" she laughed and licked her lips delightedly. "How positively delicious! What a conversation that must have been! I'll bet you didn't shed any tears when you discovered he was dead, did you? Freed up his little human lover for you to-"
"Enough!" Jorick roared. "You might as well get over your pathetic dreams, Kateesha. Nothing in this world will ever make me want you."
Her eyes popped in outrage and then narrowed to slits. Her lips curled back until she was no longer beautiful, but ghastly. "You probably killed him yourself so you could have her! Why? Look at her! Look at her!" She jabbed a long nailed finger in Katelina's good shoulder. "She's nothing extraordinary! She isn't even pretty! It's just because you crave a lost soul to look after! You have to have some pathetic powerless creature to take care of in order to feel strong!"
"I did not kill him Kateesha," Jorick hissed coldly. "But if you do not keep your thoughts to yourself, I may kill you."
"I do not fear you, brother. You're far too busy picking up stray animals to be any real threat."
Oren stepped between the pair, his hands up. "Stop this! We have allied ourselves and, no matter what the reason, we have taken oaths. Let us now fulfill them. There will be time to kill one another when Claudius is dead."
Kateesha laughed hollowly. "You're just hoping for help in your new war against The Guild, Oren. But if you think Jorick will assist you, you're mistaken. He cares only for himself - and his new obsession."
Jorick growled, but Oren answered her, "My reason does not concern you, Kateesha." Though his voice was controlled, it was obvious he found it difficult not to shout. "Enough of this squabbling, we need to move out."
"What about her?" Torina asked and nodded to Katelina.
"She comes with me," Jorick said firmly. "And that's final."
Oren nodded. "Then let us go."
With those words hanging in the thick air, the five of them headed off towards the small, dirty house.
