Bad Guys
1460 Words
"This is no f*****g joke, damn it!" Alex grated, snapping his anger and frustration.
"There's nothing to be done." Althea shrugged her slender shoulders. "Hans, or Fido, whichever he prefers, is very good at his job. I have heard tales that would make your blood curdle, which is not very tasty at all.” She made a face. “He's not my boyfriend any longer, so I feel okay saying such things about him now."
"Trouble in paradise?" Christopher was genuinely interested.
"Anna Lisa." Althea's eyes narrowed slightly. "The bitch."
"Ahh." Christopher now understood.
"What do you mean, there's nothing to be done?" Alex was not about to just sit by and listen to that s**t. "I'm going to do something!" Of that, he was positive.
He didn't exactly know what at this point, but no way in hell was he going to sit around and wait to die. Wait for Annie to die. f**k that notion! He looked about for his coat and Annie's.
"You don't have to go looking for them." Christopher turned in his seat, his tone a sardonic one. "They will be here soon enough, Alex."
"They know where we are?" Annie tried to keep her tone steady, but she was shaking like a leaf inside. She hoped her fear did not show.
Everyone looked at the female vampire.
"Hey! I didn't tell them!" Althea took umbrage. Then she hesitated. "What do you mean...they?"
Christopher went back to his television program. “Everyone, just relax." He suggested evenly. "It’s going to be a long night."
Althea sat back, putting her feet up on the...Christopher waved such a notion aside. "Don't even." He shook his head. The woman rolled her eyes but lowered her feet off the coffee table.
Alex went to Annie, embracing her soundly. "It'll be alright." He whispered encouragingly, putting the long tresses behind her shoulder as she laid her head into the crook of his neckline. "I'll think of something."
He held her securely, his arms about the petite frame protectively. He absently kissed her forehead, his mind whirling with unanswered questions.
"This is so surreal." Annie whispered. She stirred her tea, placing her hair behind her ear.
The long tresses swayed gently with the negative shake of her head. "I mean that," she laughed half- heartedly, shrugging her shoulders, "that man wants me dead. The way he stared at me." She shivered involuntarily in remembrance. "I felt that he meant to do me harm, but..."
Alex followed her stare. Althea and Christopher sat across the room, conversing. Their tones were just as hushed as his and Annie’s.
"Althea is so blasé about the whole thing. I'm starting to wonder if I didn't imagine it all." The large blue eyes sought comfort and solace.
"It was real, Annie." Alex stated grimly.
"So, we just...what?" she asked plaintively. "Wait here until he comes?"
Alex reached, touching the soft material of her pink sweater sleeve. "Do you trust me?"
.
She smiled that smile that made his heart melt. "Of course I do." The decision was made for the woman. She lifted a perfectly arched brow. "So, I guess we wait."
"This is my fault, my doing." He knew for certainty. "I will handle it, okay?"
Annie nodded. "I know you will." She truly believed that statement. "It isn't your fault, though. I followed you that night. You told me to leave, remember?"
Alex lowered his eyes. He would have given anything, at this moment, to have changed that moment in time.
"No matter what happens tonight. I'm not sorry I met you." Annie stated. "I want you to know that and believe it." Her eyes beseeched him. "Please?"
The man's estimation of her heightened. "How can you say that knowing how much danger I have placed you in?" He shook his head, totally bewildered by her attitude.
"We'll figure out something. We always do." Annie refused to lose her optimism. "We make a great team remember?"
She impulsively leaned, her lips pressing gently to his cheek. He smelled wonderful and the slight brush of his five o'clock shadow made her mouth tingle deliciously. She pulled back, giving him a reassuring grin. "There is always Christopher..."
Alex lifted his attention. "What do you mean?" Occupied with the current problem, his infamous mind ticked away at ways to solve an unsolvable problem. He did not want to worry Annie, but...
"We can always trip him and run." She stated with a perfectly straight face. "Make a clean get away...leave him behind."
The statement registered, and Alex's face broke into an infectious grin.
"I heard that." Christopher called back over his shoulder, interrupting his conversation with the other woman.
Annie giggled at the being's wit, pleased that Alex's mood seemed a little lighter now.
"Want some more tea?" He asked if only to have something productive with which to occupy the wait time.
"Yes, thank you." Annie nodded.
Althea pulled her attention from the pair, having watched the interplay between the two for a while now.
"She is handling our deaths very well, don't you think?"
"We can't live forever, you know." Christopher entered a seven-letter word for remarkable in the crossword puzzle he was attempting.
"Well, that just doesn't make any sense whatsoever!" Althea snapped. "Of course, we can or...could! We're freakin’ vampires!" She fell silent for all of two seconds. "Christopher, do you ever think about death?"
"It’s not on my top ten list of things to ponder, no."
"Do you realize..." The female smushed the playdoh into a colorful heap, sticking the finished product onto an ever-enlarging structure she had been creating for some few minutes now. Concentrating diligently, her tongue darted about the luscious mouth from time to time. "That in an hour, maybe less, we will very likely be dead?"
"I probably should have stopped the paper delivery." Christopher mused.
"I have been thinking." Althea pondered openly, her expression clear and unassuming. Christopher shifted a wary glance. "Never a good thing."
"And I've decided," Althea continued as if he had not spoken, carefully placing a lopsided ball of the red, sticky substance atop her creation, "even though? You were right."
She sat back, admiring her object d'art.
"I am seldom wrong," Christopher frowned over at the piece, "but what was I correct about this time and, more importantly, what in God’s name, is that god-awful arrangement meant to be?"
"It’s from my blue period." Althea tilted her head to the side, studying the object d'art critically. "I'm blue..." she mentioned sarcastically, “because I'm going to die soon!"
"Then your work will be worth more money." Christopher looked on the bright side.
She scooted over by the being, lowering her voice, having checked on the whereabouts of Alex Wilder and Annie Callahan. "We could leave, you know. Adolph isn't really after us."
"Yes, you could do that."
She sat back, discouraged. "Well, I'm not going if you're not going, which really sucks if you ask me! If you were any kind of friend/great lay, you would give a little credence to my well- being. It’s all about you, isn't it!"
"I said you could go." Christopher lifted the small face, his fingers under the smooth flesh of her chin. "You probably should." He realized.
"I'm not a quitter!"
"Sure, you are," He reminded.
Althea settled down, moping a little. "I'm not sure?" She sought his input. "But I think there is a principle involved here. One should stand up for one's principles, right?"
"If you say so. I'm here for the buffet."
She laughed throatily. "Ew, that makes me queasy. Stop it."
"Just think,” the being pondered as well, “two sterling, noble individuals, in the prime of their lives–"
"You're kinda old, actually–" Thea felt the need to point out the fact.
"Cut down mercilessly, cruelly… defending a noble cause!" Christopher was on a roll, discouraging the disruption of his train of thought.
"You said noble twice–"
"We will be remembered as object lessons. You are tolerated by our kind, and I am very well-liked and respected." The being mused.
"Very well liked. We are taking a stand against the Establishment. Against archaic rules. A way of life that is no longer–"
The female scrambled to her feet hastily, her eyes as big as saucers.
Alex Wilder's hand tightened painfully on Annie Callahan's. So much so, the woman gasped painfully. Alex instantly released his hold, stepping before Annie, turning to face the immediate danger.
"Show time." Christopher murmured, motioning Alex to his side. Althea had stood, moving close as well, her hand gripping the material of his blue striped shirt tightly.
The two figures stood poised, glaring down into the domain.
- Writer
