Page 25 of The Elementalist
The smell of death had grown stronger with the door open, and it was obvious from whom or what the smell came from them. Indeed, the pair stank as if they’d just returned from robbing a grave. Maybe they had.
“You got him,” I said, and tried not to gag. “How can I help you?”
“We’d like to discuss some... business with you,” said Hollywood. “May we come in?”
I recalled Michael’s further instruction about never inviting a vampire in—or even someone whomightbe a vampire. Michael’s exact words had been: “Get into the habit of not invitinganyonesuspicious in.”
But these two punks weren’t the only cocky assholes around. I stepped back and motioned with a hand, indicating that they should come in. I hoped this gesture didn’t qualify as an official invite. Must not have been, because neither of the men moved. My heart pounded in my ears. This was all so... unreal. Crazy, crazy, crazy.
“I can hear your heart beating,” said the bad boy. He leaned a shoulder casually against the doorframe. “Nervous?”
“Should I be?”
“We’re just here to talk,” said the taller one, smiling warmly... or trying to. It looked creepy as hell. “Maybe you couldinvite us in?”
I motioned again. “No one’s stopping you.”
He smiled. I smiled. The bad boy didn’t smile. Neither moved.
“So it’s true. You two reallyarevampires,” I said, stunned. I mean, just because I was dealing with weird shit, didn’t entirely mean I was ready to accept the existence of vampires. Or even believe in them. But here they were... two of them, in the flesh... the very pale flesh.
“And why would you say a crazy thing like that?” asked the taller one.
“Because you can’t step through my doorway unless I invite you in.”
“Someone’s been watching a little too much TV,” said the shorter one.
They looked remarkably handsome. Either could’ve been movie stars. Both seemed in their twenties, the shorter one toward the older end. What their real ages were, I hadn’t a clue.
The bad boy leveled a terrifying cold stare at me. “We should just kill him now.”
“Ignore him,” said the taller of the two to me, trying to smile warmly but failing. “My associate is a bit of a… well, psychopath.”
“You say the sweetest things,” replied the other.
I swallowed. Never had I seen such a lack of empathy. Mostly in the smaller one. The taller one wasn’t too far off. Both were cold-blooded killers, of that much I felt certain.
“What are your names?” I asked. Truth was, I had asked around in town, but no one seemed to remember these two, which I found odd. “What’s it hurt to tell me since, you know, you’re gonna kill me and all?”
The psychopath appeared amused.
The tall one smiled broadly, showing a lot of teeth. I notedthey were level teeth. As in, no pointy canines. “I’m Piper and this is Derek.”
“So you guys partner up like cops?” I asked, trying to buy time. Other than my crash course in vampires last night, I knew next to nothing about the social structure of vampires. For all I knew, they often came in twos, although I doubted that. After all, Bad Boy had been alone when he came a-knockin’ the other night. And Hollywood had been alone at the bar, watching my little air raid display.
Derek gave me a half smirk. “I like him. Too bad we have to kill him.”
“He jokes,” said Piper. “Ignore him.”
Ignore him I did. “Do either of you have any information about the two people who were killed last week?”
“I wouldn’t say I have much useful information.” Derek crossed his arms over his chest, “but they were certainly delicious.”
“You killed them?”
He shrugged. “It’s kinda what I do.”
Hearing his total disregard for human life sent a chill through me. His reaction made it ten times worse: The bastardenjoyedmaking me feel uncomfortable. A plague on the Earth indeed.
