Fan Fiction ❯ The Vampire Hunter II: Bloodlines ❯ Chapter 6

Chapter VI

Gabrielle's eyes opened as her trunk was tipped sideways and then it settled back down to its proper upright position. She heard some swearing from the guys that were unloading her from the plane's cargo area and smiled as they both argued about who was at fault if anything turned up broken. After a quick internal check, she decided to go back to sleep and wait for the natural cessation of sleep from the sun going down to wake her up again.

An hour and a half later, Gabrielle's eyes opened again and she focused on Theresa, who was looking down at her from having just opened the trunk's lid. She held out her hand and Gabrielle took it as she sat up and looked around at the underground bedroom she'd been placed in. Theresa helped Gabrielle to her feet and then over the edge of the trunk's side.

"Is there anything I can get for you, Mistress?" Theresa asked.

"Where are the others?" Gabrielle asked in return.

"Everyone has separate rooms and the others are probably still sleeping," Theresa replied.

Gabrielle nodded and then headed for one of the doors that led out of the room. From previous visits, Gabrielle knew the door to her right led to a spacious washroom and the door behind her led to a "playroom," something she'd never used, though she knew many of her kind indulged in toying with their prey on a regular basis.

The door in front of her led to a balcony walkway that spiraled around a large open area in the center of the underground enclosure, which spanned twenty stories. Though the walkway wound around to reach every floor, there were elevators for those in a hurry to do their masters' or mistresses' bidding, and a sufficiently old enough vampire could simply jump over the side and catch the railing of the level they wished to be on.

Gabrielle looked behind her and waited for Theresa to point her in the right direction to see the others in her group.

"They're on the fourth level, rooms 409 to 414," Theresa supplied.

Gabrielle looked back at her own room number to confirm that she had been placed in her usual room on the twentieth, and lowest, level.

"Why weren't they put on this level, too?" Gabrielle questioned with a slight edge to her voice.

Placing her friends on an upper level showed a lack of respect and Gabrielle had no patience for such pettiness, but then Theresa answered her question.

"They requested it so that they could leave and re-enter more easily since you said they'd only have the first half of the night to themselves. Has that changed? I could go tell them to move down here," Theresa spoke quickly.

"No, that's okay. Well, let's go say good evening," Gabrielle said and they slowly made their way around the spiral walkway to the upper levels.

They found the other vampires were just waking up and their servants were quietly attending to their needs. Samantha was busy laying out clothing for both Michelle and Shiri to change into in room 409, while her own room lay empty next door. Yelena was quietly feeding on Trevor for a morning snack in room 411 and the look on the young man's face told Gabrielle he was in no pain. Chen was unpacking the computer paraphernalia and laying it on the desk in the corner of room 412 and the last two rooms were empty since Trevor and Theresa were otherwise engaged.

Gabrielle greeted everybody individually, but by the time she was ready to go to the upper levels, everyone was standing out in the hallway. She decided a quick reminder was in order.

"Samantha, we'll be leaving for Argentina at one o'clock AM, so I would like you to make sure no one overindulges themselves," Gabrielle said.

"Hey, I'll be the designated driver for this trip. I never liked L.A. anyway, so I think I'm just going to stay in and get some sleep," Trevor volunteered.

"Thank you, Trevor. Well, I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I have a few appointments to keep. I'll see you all at the airport, so take care until then," Gabrielle smiled and light-walked away.

Michelle blinked and Shiri whistled while everyone else just stood there. One moment, the Queen had been there, the next, she'd been gone.

"How does she do that?" Chen asked in awe.

"Move at the speed of light? I have no idea," Shiri answered truthfully. "But I wish I did."

"Well, come on. I haven't been to Los Angeles in years and I want to have some fun," Michelle enthused.

There was a round of goodnights to Trevor and then the group made its way around the spiral walkway to get to the upper levels.

Gabrielle practically flew over the carpeted hallway and reached the second level in only a couple seconds. She admitted to herself that it had felt good to show off and exercise some of her lesser-known abilities, but she'd really just wanted to be alone when she made her inquiries. It only took a moment for her to see her contact and she crossed the large community area slowly, greeting those she knew and only nodding to those she didn't.

As soon as Kim saw Gabrielle, she stood and waited until her Queen was standing in front of her before she began the small speech she'd prepared.

"Good evening, First Born. The manila envelope contains all the identification records you will need. The white envelope has the information concerning your accounts so that the transfer goes smoothly. You also requested something else, I believe?" Kim asked as she handed over the two large envelopes and a small package.

It was a blood-drawing kit, complete with a needle sealed in plastic and a rubber-topped test tube. Kim had a few ideas about what the First Born intended to do with the medical instruments, but it wasn't her place to question her Queen about how she tortured her victims.

"Yes, thank you. Now, if you could tell me where I might find Avarice?" Gabrielle questioned.

"Of course. She's at the Bloodletting. It's on Santa Monica Blvd. between..."

"Yes, I know where it is. Thank you."

Gabrielle tucked the envelopes under her cloak and gently placed the kit in a deep inside pocket next to her ever-present platinum Visa and personal ID cards. Then she turned away from the vampire and found the nearest exit to the outside.

~\/^^^\/~

Clark looked at the GPS tracker's readout again and did a double take when she realized the numbers had begun changing. She'd been sitting in her rented car for almost half an hour after following Gabrielle to a non-descript building near the Griffith Observatory. The sun had just disappeared below the edge of the horizon and the sky was still somewhat orange-pink from the pollution, but there was no direct sunlight.

Clark started her ignition and waited for the numbers to give her a direction to drive in. At the speed Gabrielle was moving, it was only a moment before Clark pulled out onto the street and began the Hunt.

When Clark saw the numbers stop, she pulled into the nearest street parking space and got out. She checked the numbers several times, but they didn't change. Gabrielle had really gone into a bank. Clark returned to her car and got back in the driver's seat.

What could Gabrielle want with a bank? Was she checking on an account she had there? Clark knew Gabrielle had to have amassed a large amount of money over the hundreds of years she'd been alive, but it was still strange to think of someone like Gabrielle doing something as normal as meeting with a banker.

Still, it made sense. With the beginning of governmental tracking of births and deaths through the Social Security Administration and various other means of verifying citizenship, and therefore, humanness, vampires had almost invented the fake ID. Once they'd gained the ability to pass as human, they'd begun to exercise some of the rights and privileges that came with their new status.

The VHA estimated that vampires made up a very small percentage of the accounts held at American and international bank institutions around the world, but the fact that they made up any percentage was disturbing to many within the Association. One of the bills being sent before the Senate and the House of Representatives, if passed, would force everyone who wanted to open a new account to either take a blood test, or stand outside in direct sunlight for a minimum of five minutes.

Clark doubted it would make it, though. It infringed on too many personal rights. They couldn't even get mandatory drug testing across the board for humans, so the likelihood of this latest vampire testing idea passing both Houses was slim.

Clark didn't agree with it anyway. The majority of new accounts being opened were by humans and she didn't think it was very practical to put all those people through a test that would only end up catching a few stupid vampires at most, since a vampire could just as easily get one of their servants to open the account for them.

Clark looked down at the tracker again. The numbers hadn't changed yet, so she sat back in her seat and waited.