Page 23 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

Lamont blinked. He didn’t even remember a girl. Things were moving so fast he barely had time to take a piss. But he played along. “Rachel, huh? Let me see what I can do. You. Can you… I mean, does your dick work?” Lamont asked.

Russell laughed. “Yeah, man. I haven’t fucked in the literal sense, but I’ve jacked my meat plenty. It works. I just have spasms, you know, muscle spasms that could be weird during sex. Girls don’t like it. Never mind about Rachel. I was just curious.”

“Pussy is pussy, bro. There’s a babe for everyone in Vegas. You want your cheery popped I’m your man,” Lamont said. “But let’s keep it anonymous. Never fuck with broads you know on the first test drive. Save Rachel for when you get your game tight. Ya feel me?”

Russell grinned. “Yeah, I feel you. Okay!”

“C’mon, let me teach you how to smoke one. That’s where you start. That’s where I started,” mumbled Lamont.

Russell eagerly followed him, with his backpack resting on his knees.

Chapter 10

The Healing

Circus Circus, Las Vegas - Nevada

April 17, 2018

(4 Days Before Death)

Sonya walked overand helped Nzinga with the luggage. Charmaine followed, but then stopped on the sidewalk. She glanced at those who hurried to escape the morning heat. Tourists left one casino and headed for a buffet or the next place of chance. Flyers of exotic dancers, escorts, and parties littered the ground. It was a typical morning in Vegas. Yet, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She couldn’t explain why. She scanned the streets for any threat. She noticed most people were in groups or couples and walked purposefully on the sidewalk, barely looking her way. Others gave her appreciative glances, but they didn’t seem threatening. Yet, her gut told her someone or some thing watched her.

Then she saw him. How she missed him before, she didn’t know. A man with a hood and gloves stood across the street. He made no effort to conceal himself, and she could hardly see his face. He stared directly at her. She blinked as the clouds driftedand the sun shone into her eyes. Shielding her vision, she tried to see him, really see him. If she saw his face, she’d know. Even though American horror movies had taught her the daytime was often the safest, she knew the truth and could not turn away. What if he were a vampire? What if he was worse than a vampire? The man did not move.

“Go inside,” said a voice in her head. The warning in the tone of that voice startled Charmaine. It had to be her inner self speaking, but it didn’t feel like it. She listened. She turned and followed her friend, careful to not look back.

Nzinga was at the front desk. Sonya looked back at Charmaine with a worried frown. “Where were you?”

“Huh? Oh… outside, I saw someone or thing. I think,” she said.

“Yeah, well, this place stinks,” Sonya said. “Nzinga needs to hurry the hell up and answer my questions.”

“You talked to her?” Charmaine asked.

“She’s going to tell us what happened. Enough of this silent treatment bullshit. I feel like an idiot, following these ‘first people’ and letting them experiment on us. Look at you. Look at me. This is not normal.”

“Something went wrong in that forest. Not just with us, but with them. Do you feel it? This bad, sadness, to everything,” Sonya asked.

Charmaine rubbed her arms. “Yeah, well, not exactly. I feel watched. I see so many people staring. You see it?”

Sonya looked around at the old smokers, the drunks, the tired gambling junkies who never slept and stayed rooted to a slot machine. “Where? Who?”

“Everywhere,” Charmaine mumbled.

There were a few men seated at the slot machines. And others at roulette tables. Few glanced their way. One man gave Charmaine a toothless smile.

“Yeah, well, I see nothing,” Sonya said.

“It’s weird in here, and cold. Freezing?”

“Oh God, don’t flip out on me Char, let’s get to the room first. We’ll figure it out,” Sonya mumbled.

“Sorry. Not sure what is wrong with me. I’m okay. Okay.” Charmaine talked herself down from a full-blown panic attack.You’re doing fine, said her inner voice. A warm soothing swept up from her feet to the top of her head. It spread through her like liquid magic. She exhaled and felt herself release the pent-up anxiety trapped in her chest.

Nzinga approached the girls with room keys. “I got three separate rooms on three separate floors, Guardians. I think we should stay in one room together, for security. Not because of a threat, but to make sure we are always connected, and no one tracks you, Guardians. Greenlee, before we arrived, during the planning for your return, my Guardians, had the hotel sealed. The supernatural’s you may encounter here are allies. The others can’t enter. This is a safe place. Those who wish to harm or serve the darkness cannot breach this hotel. Except for the Master Vampires, of course. I am honored to serve you, and hopefully regain your trust.”

The girls looked at each other, dumbfounded. Then they stared at Nzinga as if she were crazy.

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