Page 29 of Slayer Mom
What was I supposed to do for him? Was he infected? Was there any point in not just killing him now? I was not killing him as long as he wasn’t trying to kill me, and he just sat there, slightly twitching every once in a while.
Duct tape was such a useful tool. I needed to carry it with me along with the lock-pick and an extra change of clothing.
I stole duct tape from Tom’s back room then put them both on a cleaning cart, draped plastic over them and pushed them out to my car, through the crowd of happy movie-goers who had no idea what kind of drama was in just the next theater.
After I got them in the car, I only had one option. It wasn’t a great option, but it was an option. I took them to the Grand Master’s hotel and put Tom in one of the barred entries and Gloria in the other, before I went into the room between them and picked up the phone.
“Good evening. How can I help you?” the nervous woman answered.
“I would like to speak to the owner of this hotel. Do you have his number?”
“I… Are you certain that’s what you want?”
I didn’t actually want to talk to the Grand Master,with his not-so-subtle come-ons and his endless arrogance, but what choice did I have? “Yes, thank you.”
“Hold please.”
I listened to the elevator music and idly took an apple out of the large basket and bit into it. It was a little mealy, so I put it back.
“Yes?” He said it all stretched out, so it took up as much space and as a few words as possible.
“I have a situation. No, I have several situations. I have a friend who is possessed by something, her boyfriend who has a lot of bite marks all over his body, and a theater full of decomposing zombies that I didn’t have time to burn properly.”
“And you called me because…”
Ugh, was he seriously going to make me say it? “I don’t know what to do. I need help.”
“Ah. You’re asking me to rescue you, like the prince charming I am.”
I almost snorted, but somehow caught myself in time. “Yes. They’re locked up in the hotel. Also, the zombies were talking while I was slaying them.”
“What did they tell you? Were they singing together too?”
“We are here for you. I had no idea that zombies were so supportive.” I swallowed a sudden uneasiness. That had been extremely terrifying, but I hadn’t had the chance to really get into it.
He was quiet for a long time while my heart pounded louder and louder. “It’s done.” Then he hung up on me.
I looked over at Tom and Gloria. It was officially not done, but whatever the Grand Delusional Master said.
The stack of papers was still there, waiting for me to fill them out. I looked them over, but I hated paperwork. That’s one of the things I was so happy that Hazen did for me.
The door to the drive opened, and a woman came in, dark glasses, dark shiny coat, and when she saw Gloria, she grabbed her by the throat and lifted her until she was dangling. Gloria opened her eyes, her bright, glowing, purple eyes and started laughing, all evil monster of the darkness.
So creepy. I glanced at the paperwork. Could I possibly concentrate when the Gloria show was so distracting? Nope. I sat down and turned my chair so I could watch the vampiress shake down the possessed Gloria.
“Be gentle with her. I want my friend back after you’re done,” I said, loudly.
The sunglasses chick looked my way, and I could feel her scowl behind the glasses. “And you are?”
I swallowed. She was locked outside of my space, but how hard would it really be for her to break in? “Just a nice, boring housewife.”
“You’re human, but you smell of the Grand Master’s blood. Did he really make someone so frail and pathetic his exterminator?” She spat to the side in disgust. I hadn’t realized that people actually did that.
“What did you say about the Grand Master’s blood?” Yes. That was much more important than the fact that she’d spit on the lush carpet like a complete barbarian.
“Did he not tell you what was in his serum? How amusing. Perhaps you shouldn’t take things from people you don’t know. It’s too late to worry about that now. He owns you.” She finished this happy thought by shaking Gloria so hard that her legs whipped around. “Why did you choose such a weak vessel, your majesty? It will be so difficult for me not to accidentally kill it.” She pulled back her lips in a snarl that reminded me so much of the other vampire, the one Tom and I had boomed, that I edged closer to Tom, hoping that he’d get it together.
The door to the hotel opened, and a man entered the cage with Tom, carrying a large black bag. He knelt down and then drew a small silver scalpel and started cutting out all the bites. He didn’t look up at me, and he also wore sunglasses. I was leaning against the bars, so I got a good look at the revolting job.
